Club SUM Christmas Dinner 19 December 2012

This year we had a combined Christmas dinner and workshop. Following on from the success of last years Thai take out dinner, we again ordered from the same place and had our meal before getting stuck into a Christmas card project.

 My sister, Lily was stuck with making the Fruit salad christmas tree which did not quite come out as I had pictured it. Next time, I'll need to prepare it the night before. Just too busy.

Christmas card production

I managed to make 60 christmas cards in nearly 2 days. Started production on Wed 5/12 night, continued on Fri 7/12 and finished them on Sat 8/12, with some help from my niece, Kaylene who helped me punch some glimmer papers and cut and stick some dimensionals.

Materials used:

Red, Silver and Champagne glimmer paper
Postage punch
1" square punch
Merry Mini's punch set
Whisper White cardstock
Raspberry Ripple cardstock
Raspberry Ripple ink pad
Snail glue
More Merry Messages Stampset

Winner!!!

I received an email from Sophie Zadeh, Training Facilitator at Stampin' Up! who demonstrated at the recent Heartfelt Stampin' Event in Sydney. I was one of the five winners of the Social Media prize. In order to be in the running you had to blog, twitter, fb about the event, and if your post came up when Sophie googled "Heartfelt Stampin' then you had to chance to win a prize. Imagine my surprise when I saw an email from Sophie saying I was one of the chosen five. The prize - Merry Minis stamp set. Lucky I haven't purchased this set yet, although I have already purchased the matching punch set. Yay!!! now to wait for it to arrive in the post.  Hopefully I get it before Christmas :D

I got home on Friday and there was a parcel waiting for me...my prize from Stampin' Up! 

Wedding Invites and Decorations

For most of this year I have been busily involved with my cousin, Ken and fiance, Angel's wedding preparations.

They enlisted me to help with the design and making of their invitations, the place cards as well as assorted table decorations.

Now that the wedding is over with, I can post the pictures of my handiwork.

The invitations and place name cards, were made using the Stampin' Up! Simply Soft Hostess & ??? stamp set, Pink Pirouette Ink Pad, Pink Pirouette 3/8" taffeta ribbon, Dazzling Diamons. Whisper white cardstock, the pink shiny cardstock was purchased from Spotlight. C6 envelopes and Notecard envelopes were used.

The inspirational wooden words were purchase from Spotlight and decorated using white paint and the same stamp sets used in the invitations. these were used to decorate each table.

Wooden pegs were painted and painstakingly stamped with "Celebrate Today" and "Thank You" and used for placecard holders.

A metal bird cage was painted and decorated to be used as the "wishing well" card holder.

The banners were care of the Martha Stewart website which had letter templates I could just print out on  my Purple and Pretty in Pink cardstock

Here I am with my cousin, Belinda and niece, Kaylene, greeting guests. 

Stampin' Up Heartfelt Stampin' Event - Sydney

On Saturday I attended the Stampin' Up! Heartfelt Stampin' Event in Sydney with my downline and very good friend, Sue. After checking in at the registration counter and picking up our bag of goodies, which had our Make and Take projects, the Clockworks stamp set, our meal ticket, wristband, and program guide, we waited for the doors to the main hall to open. I headed to the Inspiration board to pin my project and then we found a seat at the gathering place to listen to the welcome speech and housekeeping directions, before dispersing to our various destinations.

The morning was spent in the Bayside Terrace room attending the presentations by Sophie Zadeh: Decorations, Marelle Taylor: Heartfelt Cards, Donna Williams: Packaging and Wrapping Ideas and Ann Craig: Handmade Gifts.

Sophie's presentation on christmas decorations were exquisite and if I had the time, I would make myself one of those floral, buttoned wreaths and snowflake covered foam ball decorations.

The quick and easy Heartfelt cards demonstrated by Marelle will be quick and easy when I get my hands on those pre made tags.

Donna's wrapping and packaging ideas were fantastic, loved the enormous floral bows and Ann's use of brown stuffing paper to make scrap albums will be one I want to try my hand at.

So many talented and artistic demonstrators who were all willing to share their ideas and works of art.

After almost 4 hours of presentations, we had to replenish our energy with the supplied lunch, which we puzzled over. 

What was the yellow slab with the asparagus on it? What type of meat was in the bread bun? Either way, it was wolfed down, there was no time to waste.

We spent the afternoon moving from the Make and Takes to the Product playgrounds to taking photos of the inspirational works on the Inspirational boards. 

Didn't get time to look at the mini demonstrations taking place as they always seemed to be crowded. Whilst at the Make and Takes, we got told that if we went to the Christmas tree area and made an ornament for the tree, we'd get a special gift. We blitz through the first project, and headed straight over.

Whipped up a christmas ornament, hung it on the tree and waited for our gift: a Christmas greeting stamp - WOOHOO!

We tried our hand at using the wheels, got shown how the builder wheels worked and fell in love with more products. Also sat through a course on how to use the new clear mount stamps and the tools, positioning guides and foam mats that made using them easier.
The embossing station and brayer station always seemed to be full, but we managed to finally try our hand at brayering. It's amazing what you can do and learning that salt sprinkled on the cardstock and run through the big shot will give you a sky full of stars was pretty nifty.

We had a fantastic time. I took a lot of photos and picked up a lot of ideas, which I wish I could do now, but other things get in the way..like work.

INK-credibles

As if getting a free christmas gift (see Christmas is Coming! post below) wasn't enough, if you're hosting a Stampin' Up! workshop  from 1-16 November and you make a minimum of $650 in party sales you are eligible to get a FREE collection of ink pads*-a $79.95 value-in addition to other fantastic benefits!

* Neutrals collection not eligible
**Does not include shipping

Christmas is Coming!

There is still a couple of weeks until Christmas, and Stampin' Up! is giving you a Christmas gift in November -- a FREE Festive Paper Piercing Pack when you buy the Ornament Keepsakes Set and Candlelight Christmas Specialty Designer Series Paper Bundle.

 

If you haven't already got this Stamp set, place your order now with me and get the bonus Festive Paper Piercing Pack.

 





Happy Halloween

 Although we don't really celebrate Halloween in Australia, it is beginning to catch on and there are shops with halloween items for sale now.

For a recent workshop I went all out and made some topnote Halloween characters, Frankenstein, a Mummy, Dracula and a Witch taking inspiration from other demonstrators. I also made a bat, recently shown on Shelli's blog using the petal cone die cut.

I also made a little banner using the alphabet die cuts and circle punch to hang on my tree.

For the workshop we made our trick or treat bags using the Googly Ghouls kit which is available in the Holiday catalogue. Buying the stamp set and kit in a package, I made a saving.

It's Spool Time

This promotion runs through the month of October and for every $60 you spend you can pick from the 2012-2014 In-Colors and get a FREE spool of 3/8"(1cm) Stitched Satin Ribbon. Spend $300 and you get all five!!

Faith in Nature retirement card

One of my sister, Fiona's carer, Margaret is retiring, so a card was commissioned and this is what I came up with...

I think I'm stuck on the easier version of the tri-fold card...all my cards seem to be based on this now.

Catalogue Launch

On Tuesday 4 September, I held my Catalogue Launch party for my Stampin' Up! ladies.

I made them all a goodie bag and in each bag I gave them:

• a highlighter to highlight the items in the catalogue which they already have
• a set of individually named punched tabs to mark the sections on the catalogue, e.g. Stamps, Colour, Tools, Accessories and Index using the new In Colours
• a pen to mark the items they would like to get from the new catalogue
• a bandaid, just in case they get a paper cut from leafing through the catalogue
• a bag of chocolates to give them the sugar hit they will need whilst looking through the catalogue.
• a small gift of 2-step stamps

We also made two christmas cards using two new stamp sets from the new catalogue.

New Look for Wood-Mount Stamp Labels

You might notice when you receive your new wood-mount stamps from the 2012-2013 Annual catalogue that the labels for all new stamps are cut in the shape of the image similar to the labels the clear-mount stamps.

Please note that this change applies only to new stamp sets only - image labels for carryover sets will remain the same.

New Annual Catalogue

The 2012-2013 annual catalogue will run from 1 September, 2012 through 30 June, 2013.

You may notice that this catalogue will only be live for 10 months. This is to facilitate the alignment of catalogues with North America. The 2013-2014 annual catalogue will go live on 1 July, 2013 and the alignment will be complete.

The annual catalogue has increased from 168 pages in the current Idea Book and Catalogue to 204 pages.

The annual catalogue is printed on lighter-weight paper.

WHATS NEW!!!

5 New In Colors

Stampin' Trimmer: a new cutting tool that incorporates many features which we know you'll love including:

• Full 30.5 cm cutting and scoring track (You don't have to remove the blades to get a full 30.5 cm cut!)
• Extended 15.9 cm wide cutting base and 39 cm extender ruler
• Storage compartment under base to hold additional cutting/scoring blades
• Cutting track that locks into place
• Specially designed cutting track and handles for stable and straight cuts
• Full ruler, with additional printed grid lines under a plastic cover so measurements won't wear off

Digital Collection Discs
We're excited to offer you Stampin' Up! artwork digital-style! The 2012-2013 annual catalogue includes several digital collection discs so you can create digitally with artwork from the My Digital Studio product line.

You can see the artwork included on these discs at www.stampinup.com/digital_au

To see digital project ideas, ask questions in the forum, and get more information on the My Digital Studio product line, visit MyDigitalStudio.net (note that this site gives information on the software and print products, which are not currently available in the South Pacific).

WHATS CHANGING

Small Change to Snail Adhesive
We just wanted to give you a heads up that we're switching the type of liner used in the Snail Adhesive. This new liner is tinted blue and thinner than the previous liner making the roll appear to have less adhesive. Rest assured that you're still getting the same amount of adhesive; the only change is the liner itself due to the supplier no longer carrying the current liner.

Wood-Mount Stamp labels
As you start to receive new wood-mount stamp sets from the 2012-2013 annual catalogue, you'll probably notice something different!  The labels for all new stamps are cut in the shape of the images--similar to the labels for our clear-mount stamps. We hope that you will enjoy this updated look to our classic wood-mount stamp sets.

**Please note that this change applies to new stamp sets only--image labels for carryover sets will remain the same.

Firm Foam Pads
There's a big change to the Classic Stampin' pads and it's that they are no longer felt pads, but will be replaced with firm foam pads. Click here for more information.