Sue Madex: Stampin Up Demonstrator Australia

Christmas Themed Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to the Christmas Themed Blog Hop that some of my stamping buddies are holding today. 

You may have come from some festive inspiration at Nikki's blog Inky Art  or perhaps you're kicking off from here.  I hope you get lots of ideas for Christmas creating on the 9 stops of the hop. 

Here's a Christmas card I did at a workshop recently.  (Inspired by this Andrea Walford card.)

Quite quick and easy so might have to consider this one for my card this year if I'm doing them in December.  (Every year I say I'm going to start in July and every year I'm up to my ears in cardstock in December!) 

Here's a few variations. 

I've used the Old Olive Patterns Stack patterned paper.  Some of the cards use Vanilla for the main panel and some Whisper White.  Inks are Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive.

I liked how Andrea stamped the ornament twice and punched one with the ornament punch and layered a circle on top  using a Stampin' Dimensional.   I think I used the 1" circle punch.

 The swirl is from Creative Elements.  (Or Baroque Motifs works well too.)

I love the seam binding ribbon.  This is actually Pear Pizzazz but it looks good on the Old Olive.

Many Merry Messages is a great set for Christmas greetings that you'll use again and again.  It is on page 108.  I love these two the best - so elegant.

OK time to head on over to the next stop in the hop.  I'll wave you goodbye and next up we have the lovely and very talented Di Dunk at Stamp Art By Di.   I hope you have fun visiting the stops for some handy Christmas inspiration.  Maybe it'll get us all in a festive mood and we'll get those Christmas cards happening while it is still November. 

Happy Stamping!

Cheers,  Sue

Retired Stock Clearance Sale and Quick Hi

Goodness - there's probably a layer of dust here in my patch of blogland.  I'm knee deep in a special project at the moment (for an extra special family event this weekend) so no time to photograph and blog any stamping projects.  Be back next week though with some Christmas card ideas.

Retired Stock Clearance Sale:  Thursday November 24th

At my place (Avondale Heights - email for address.)

Open 10.00 - 2.30pm and also  5.00 - 8.30pm

Next week is my giant Retired Stock Clearance Sale.  My newsletter girls will already know the details, but basically I've had a big clean out of my craft stash and have a bunch of retired stock ready for new homes.  Priced to clear.  I'll have it all set up on Thursday November 24th and the doors will be open from 10.00am til 2.30pm,  then again from 5.30pm til 8.30pm.  Drop by if you're free and in the area and grab yourself a bargain.  Retired stamp sets, retired DSP, retired tools and lots more bits and bobs.  Hope to see you there.

Big Shot November Special

Check here for all the details about the November Big Shot special with selected dies and embosslits at 10% off, plus a great Big Shot bundle at 10% off too.  Order $300 or more and get $50 hostess dollars to spend. 

Better have some pics hey.  Here's a project from the vaults made with the Flower Burst Embosslit that's on special this month.

I used some Patterns Stack DSP then sanded off the top layer with a sanding block.

They look quite nice layered together.

Concord Crush and Old Olive - love those colours.

OK back to my project now - see you next week.  Will share some pics of what I've been working on.

Have a great weekend.  (It's almost here isn't it?!)

Cheers, Sue

Chinese Whispers Blog Hop

Ever played Chinese Whispers??   I joined with some of my stamping friends to do a crafty version and it was so much fun.  The lovely Tina organised it and started things rolling with a card.  She emailed a photo of it to the next person on the list.  They made a card inspired by Tina's then emailed a picture of just their card to the next person on the list, and so on til we reached the end of the group.   Tina got copied in on all the emails and shared the whole collection of card photos with us at the end.  It was heaps of fun seeing how the cards changed as people took their inspiration and added their own tweak.

Now that we've finished we thought it'd be fun to show you the set of cards.  For this blog hop it'd be best to start at the start which is Tina's blog (you can find it here) then follow the links along. 

I received my email from Christine and was inspired to make this card .......

Colours:  Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Sahara Sand

Tools: Scallop Trim Border Punch, Spritzer, Modern Label Punch

Stamp Sets:  Summer Solstice and Creative Elements

I love the 'create' from Creative Elements - fits nicely into the Modern Label Punch too.

And I LOVE the new seam binding ribbon.  Didn't catch my eye at all in the catalogue at first but got one roll and now a couple of months later I have quite a collection of them!  They're so nice to work with.

Now I photographed my card and sent that through to Genna.  (She hasn't got a blog just yet but you can visit her Stampin' Up website here.)   

Genna made this one (isn't it gorgeous!) 

Genna then emailed the photo of her card to Elaine.  Elaine hasn't got a blog so I'm showing you her creation as well.   Here's Elaine's creation - the next fabulous creation in the 'Chinese Whisper.' 

Elaine emailed the photo of her card to Amanda and Amanda created this beautiful card.  

(I'm sharing it as Amanda doesn't have a blog.  Hmmm perhaps you could leave a comment to let Genna and Elaine and Amanda know how much you love their cards - they might be inspired to start blogging which would be a treat for all of us as they make such beautiful projects!  Grin. )

Now you've got the idea I'm sure.  Next in the chain was Di.  You can see Di's elegant card over at her blog here.  Pop on over to her blog to see the next cards in the series. 

Our craft game was so much fun we've launched off into Round 2.  Hope you enjoy a peek at the Round 1 cards as they evolved.  To me it seems to symbolise the world of crafters, where we share ideas and find inspiration from others and get together to have fun with our hobby. 

Do you have some crafty friends?  You might like to give this game a go.  It is lots of fun.  You could try the same idea with scrapbooking layouts too. 

Happy Stamping,

Cheers, Sue 

Big Shot November Special

This month's special from Stampin' Up features the Big Shot - a fabulous tool for we paper crafters.

You'll get 10% off this big selection of dies and embossing folders ......

Description	Retail Price	10% Off Price
Scalloped Heart of Hearts Embosslits Die	$21.95	$19.75
Flower Burst Embosslits Die	$21.95	$19.75
Manhattan Flower Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	$14.95	$13.45
Petals-a-Plenty Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	$14.95	$13.45
Elegant Lines Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	$14.95	$13.45
Buttons #5 Sizzlits Die	$9.95	$8.95
Pillow Box Bigz Die	$36.95	$33.25
Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die	$39.95	$35.95
Scallop Square Duo Bigz Die	$39.95	$35.95
Mover & Shapers Punch Windows	$54.95	$49.45
Tasteful Trim Bigz XL Die	$69.95	$62.95
Petal Cone Bigz L Die	$59.95	$53.95

I use the Petals A Plenty embossing folder a bit at Christmas time.  The flowers remind me of pointsettias. 

If you don't have a Big Shot, then there's a Big Shot bundle to tempt you during November.

You'll receive the Big Shot Die Cutting Machine including cutting plates and multipurpose platform, and the Scalloped Heart Of Hearts Embosslit and very elegant Manhattan Flower Textured Embossing Folder. 

Bundle valued at $186.85.    November Price: $168.16

Let me know by phone or email if you'd like to place an order during November, and if you'd like to take up one of the November Big Shot specials.

Have a great weekend.  I'm on face painting duties all day tomorrow at the school fete - wish me luck!  Isn't the weather all over the place - have the heater on today and going to be melting tomorrow!  Last year's fete was a warm one too and I missed a bit with the sunscreen.  Going to lather it on this time!

Hope you've got some fun planned for the weekend.

Cheers, Sue