Pots of Fun....

Not to mention, flowers! This is a fun flower pot card, that I have been seeing a lot lately. It seemed like the perfect project to use up those flowers so carefully stamped and cut out, then abandoned in favour of monsters, back in this post. Luckily they were abandoned to a safe place, and not the rubbish, so this card came together very quickly. (Now I just need to find a project to use up all those carefully stamped, cut out, and abandoned shells, from, the other day!)

I'm not sure who first came up with this idea, but I got the directions from Stephanie Luman. The card is a smaller one, so I am thinking next time I may make it a little bigger. I also used some tape to help hold the pot closed, and the card in place, rather than just have the ribbon holding it all together.

As you can see, the pot is kind of like the envelope (although the whole thing does fit in an actual envelope, for posting if you want), and the flowers are attached to the inside card that pulls up and out.

The neat thing about this project is that it can be changed in so many ways - change the colours and flowers, throw in a butterfly, or other bugs, go for an all green pot plant, or other favourites such as cactus or bonsai.... It could also been a fun way to have some hidden journalling on a scrapbook page, don't you think?

............Edited to add..........

Flowers are stamped using the Eastern Blooms set, and I also stamped the bottom of the flower pot with choc chip ink, and the 'sanded' background stamp - although that is a bit hard to see on the photos. Colours are tempting turquoise, red riding hood, so saffron and choc chip, with a bit of (retired) wild wasabi for the leaves.

Home alone...

... and loving it! Peter has taken the kids out for lunch and a movie, and I am having fun playing! Campbell thought it was a good idea that I stay home. They are going to see monsters versus aliens in 3D, and he was worried that I might freak out (it does have a GIANT lady in it Mum!)

Instead, I am working on a couple of little projects that got started but not finished the other day, and trying out a cute little card idea that has been doing the rounds of the blogs, and, pretty much, anything else I feel like!

Odds are good, that I will have stuff to share later on today...

have a good weekend everyone!

Wild about Animals

Argh! I have just spent the morning (well, part of the morning) cleaning the plastic toy animals from Campbell's school. Incidentally, I discovered in the process, baking soda is great for getting those annoying marks off the soft plastic toys. While I sat there, leaning over the bath, scrubbing, with my fingers getting pruney, I got to thinking about this layout...

It's an old favourite, that some of you will have seen before, but it fitted with the theme for the day, so I figured I would share it again anyway. We have a good supply of animals ourselves, thanks to Santa, and all the kids play with them a lot. They were an early favourite of Bridie.

Although she was pretty good at keeping the animals contained back then, this layout was supposed to show them all spilling out of the box. I wanted the stamped animals and the photo to kind of blend together. I stamped them out on white card and then cut them out - that was the trickiest part of the layout - then positioned them over the edge of the photo, and across the bottom of the layout, some of them upside down and topsy turvy.

I used the sentiment from the Stamp set as a title for this layout, and with the darker cardstock, this was the perfect opportunity to pull out that white gel pen for some quick journalling. I won't mention the colours used here, as they are long retired in colours. The stamp set though, is still available - the very versatile 'Wild About You'.

And now I have to do some emergency repairs on a beanie baby monkey - poor guy, it seems his arm is falling off (oh yep, we've been cleaning the beanie animals too - it's a regular zoo round here at the moment!)

gifts from my boys

So it seems over the last week or two, both my boys have been busy at school working on the most wonderful Mothers Day gifts ever. I just had to share them...

From Hayden, there was a card - complete with a pop up heart (I think I might have to try that some time!) and a fridge magnet he had made himself. Now that in itself is lovely, but what made it extra special?

That's our cat Jude. We are all missing her a lot! She is a pretty well travelled cat (7 or 8 plane trips, including international flights), but at 15 years old, travelling with us this time just wasn't an option. Instead she went to live with Nan and Pop, where, by all accounts, she is turning into a fat, fat cat. Clearly, she isn't missing us as much!

As for Campbell - he proudly presented me with this beautifully decorated box...

most definitely filled with treasure....

Isn't that just perfect?

Thank you boys, and a big thank you to the teachers as well.

With the end of school fast approaching (only two more weeks for Campbell!) we will be working on presents for the teachers over the next week or two. I will be sure to give you a peek at what we come up with - pretty sure it will involve cutting and sticking, and maybe even a stamp or two!

one idea, and a couple of cards

So this is me just playing. I had been wanting to give that little chicken from Nursery Necessities an outing for a while, and it was a soft subtles kind of a day. Punches are welcome anytime! First up was this pink card. I looove that soft taffeta ribbon. It is so easy to work with.

Then I got to wondering, what if I used the scallop square for the mats instead? (forgetting for a minute that the scallop square wasn't that much bigger than the square punch). Too lazy to cut my own, slightly smaller white squares for the chickens, I decided to go all scallops instead, this time going for a celery card and ribbon.

I am really liking how, although they do look the same, they also look quite different. Amazing how a change of colour or shape can make a whole new project.

Perfect timing for a colour challenge!

• Here I was thinking I needing to get on and make something!
• I needed some Thank you cards so they were at the top of the list.
• Bridie fell asleep on the way to collect the boys, (a quiet afternoon, but we will be regretting that tonight, big time!)
• Kristina had a new colour challenge up.

Like I said - perfect timing!

So here was my effort. A simple little card using the very lovely Eastern Blooms stamp set.

I used markers to put the different colours straight on to the stamp. This is a great way to use multiple colours on a stamp, or to ink up just select portions of a stamp. Best of all, we can now buy the Stampin' Write Markers individually, so you just need to get your most favourite colours!

I inked up the different parts of the stamp using rose red, chocolate chip, and more mustard markers, then stamped off on some spare white card and set it aside for another day. I don't want to waste it after all! I then reinked select flowers, and stamped on my project. This meant that some flowers (the reinked ones) were darker than others, which had already been stamped off once.

A 'thank you' from the short and sweet stamp set, and some earth elements brads (mustard) and it was time for Bridie to wake up. And homework to be done. And dinner to prepare.....

Perfect timing really is short and sweet!

Stampin' Up! Convention

Last weekend the annual Stampin' Up! convention was held in Canberra. This convention was for SU demonstrators from Australia and New Zealand, and although I wasn't able to attend, quite a group of lovely ladies from my team were there. By all accounts a fine time was had by all - lots of great awards (congrats ladies), prizes, inspiration, fun and games - well maybe not games, not sure about that bit, but fun anyway.

I was very pleased to hear that I had received a sales award, as had my team mate Kelly Chase. Although we didn't get to go up on stage and receive the award from Shelli Gardner - SU head honcho (not being in Canberra made that a little tricky!) we have apparently had our five seconds of fame anyway - with our names up there on the big screen - yay! A big, BIG thank you to all my lovely friends (new and old) and family who have supported my SU ventures over the past couple of years. It is very much appreciated, and I have had a lot of fun along the way. I hope you have too!

One snippet of info that has come out of convention, which all of you may be interested in, is about our latest Idea book and catalogue. Having just launched on April 1 2009, this latest catalogue will be current until September next year, rather than March 31, like we all had assumed. The reasoning for this is to help bring all of the SU Markets (NZ/Aust, France/Germany/Great Britain, and US/Canada) more in line. If you are anything like me you will be now suffering from a case of 'What ?!' but the good news is, we will now be having three mini catalogues instead of two, to help get us through until September. Based on past mini catalogues, it is safe to say the minis will include new stamps, papers, accessories, and possibly new hostess goodies - as if we needed more stuff on our wish lists!

Now on a totally unrelated note - I have discovered over the past few days, that while some books can provide us will lots of inspiration, others can provide us with total distraction! I am blaming Peter for my total lack of creativity the past few days - he was the one who brought the books home from the library, so he can take the rap. The good news is I finished my book last night, so unless I sneak to the library again today, there is hope for something new coming soon...

Promo #2 - $175 SU starter Kit!

If you have thought about becoming a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator in the past, now is a good time to think about it again. For the month of May, SU are offering a 'scrapbooking starter kit' for just $175 (valued over $220). A sample of a kit is shown below (of course you are welcome to exchange colours, and the stampset for another that you prefer) and includes:

• Any stamp set valued up to $91.95 (schoolbook serif alphabet pictured)
• A Simply Scrappin pack (petal party pictured)
• A 12 x 12 Textured Card Stock Pack (bold brights pictured, but should have been earth elements I think!)
• A classic Stampin' Pad (Pumpkin Pie pictured)
• Craft and Rubber Scissors.
  

In addition you will receive all the business supplies you need to get your business up and running:

• The Getting Started DVD and Guide, and a project sample sheet.
• 100 x Guest Invitation Postcards
• 8 x Idea Book And Catalogues
• 10 x 'To my Hostess' envelopes
• 20 x Hostess Brochures
• 10 x hostess benefit forms
• 50 x customer order forms
• 20 x recruit brochures

This streamlined starter kit is particularly good for people who have already purchased SU product, and don't necessarily need everything the standard kit includes, or those who would like to build their supplies a little more slowly. Of course, throughout the month the standard kit will still be available for the usual price of $379 - click here to see what that includes.

So, a couple of questions...

What are the benefits of becoming a demonstrator?

As a demonstrator you will enjoy many benefits, including discounted purchases for yourself, and the opportunity to earn free product. You also have the opportunity to turn this into a business if you want, and make money from SU. Then of course, there is the wonderful opportunity to meet others with similar interests, and a good excuse to get creating - this could be just the kick in the pants you need! One of the things I found was I nolonger felt guilty for spending time scrapping - it was my job after all!

Do I have to take workshops and/or classes?

Only if you want to. I consider there to be three main types of demonstrator.

1. Discount Demonstrators - those who join primarily for the discount, buying for themselves, and perhaps selling to a few friends and family.
2. Hobby demonstrators (this is where I see myself) - doing occasional classes or workshops, but only when it fits in with life (!), and having my hobby pay for itself.
3. and Business demonstrators - those people who see it as a part time/full time job, and who are creating hugely successful businesses (money in the bank).

What support will I receive as a demonstrator?

As a demonstrator you will receive access to the demonstrator part of the SU website (a great source of ideas and inspiration), as well as a monthly 'magazine' sent out by SU. You also will have the opportunity to attend optional training days put on by SU, and of course the annual convention (next year in Sydney?). You also become a member of a fantastically talented, and supportive team of demonstrators (many of whom have just recieved top honours at convention), having the opportunity to participate in team swaps, trainings, events, and an online forum, for advice, guidance (and just chatting!)

What's the fine print?

click here to see a copy of the demonstrator agreement.

More questions? Please contact me and I am happy to answer any questions you may have. I can definitely recommend becoming a demonstrator. I know I love SU product - and so do a LOT of other people! As an added bonus, because I love my punches so much, if you sign up as a demonstrator with me this month (either with this limited time $175 scrapbooking starter kit, or the standard $379 starter kit) I will throw in the punch of your choice from the current catalogue.

SO, let me know if you have questions, or are interested, please contact me - tracee.creates@gmail.com or traceeandpete@xtra.co.nz I look forward to welcoming you onto the team!

Making scallops with a Circle Punch

There are a lot of great scallop punches available - circle, square, and of course the scallop edge punch. Sometimes though, these won't do the job. The circle or square may not be the right size. Or perhaps you have a different shape - such as oval, that you want to add scallops too?

Cue your trusty circle punch. Size dependent on the project at hand - for this quick demonstration, I have used a 3/4 inch circle, and an oval of card, cut using a Coluzzle template.

All you need to do is punch out lots of circles, and then apply repositional (non-permanent!) adhesive to the back of your oval (or whatever it is you are 'scalloping'). You only need to put the adhesive around the outside edge of the shape - just enough to hold those circles in place. And then you get to work positioning the circles. This is where the repositional adhesive proves a winner. You can rearrange as much as you like until you are happy with the spacing. (As you can see some of the circles aren't perfect circles, and that is okay because that bit will be hidden anyway!)

This is what it looks like from the front. The scallops are actually even, top and bottom, but the photo was taken on an angle so they don't look it! I have the circles sticking out a long way - kind of petal like. You can stick them down just however you like, with one or more layers of circles/scallops.

The final step is to use a more permanent adhesive. You don't want all that carefully positioning to fall off on the floor! If you want you can do each circle, one at a time, sticking them to the oval, but I am not that patient. Instead, I applied the permanent adhesive to the back of the oval and all the circles, and stuck them on the front of the card. I figured that even though the circles and ovals are attached together 'temporarily', the fact that the circles and oval are attached to the card permanently, should mean that it will all stay intact. So far, so good!

Free Designer Patterned Papers - promo #1

Who doesn't love free patterned papers?

So, in a celebration of scrapbooking, Stampin' Up! have a couple of fantastic promotions for the month of May. First up, free papers. When you purchase three packs of selected Designer Series papers (19.95 + pp) you will get one more pack for free. There is no limit on how many free packs you can get - so if you bought six packs you would get two free....

The paper packs that are included in the promotion include a wide variety of colours and patterns...

• 112042 Urban Garden Designer Series (see photo above)
• 112470 Haiku Designer Series
• 113976 Pink Flamingo Designer Series
• 112468 Sweet Always Designer Series
• 113992 Tea Party Designer Series
• 113975 Raspberry Tart Designer Series
• 113966 Good Morning Sunshine Designer Series
• 112469 Holiday Treasures Designer Series
• 112041 Bella Rose Designer Series
• 113974 Bella Bleu Designer Series
• 113978 Urban Oasis Designer Series
• 112461 Washington Apple Designer Series
• 112039 Windsor Knot Designer Series
• 113980 Candy Lane Designer Series
  

All of these papers can be seen on pages 132 - 135 of the catalogue. If you don't have a catalogue you can view them online - see the link on the sidebar, or click here.

If you would like to take advantage of this promotion please contact me. The free papers are available until 31 May. Tracee.creates@gmail.com

Keep an eye out for another post coming soon - the second promotion for the month sees the cheapest ever offer of an SU starter kit - is it time for you to start your own business, doing what you love?