Sue Madex: Stampin Up Demonstrator Australia

Whimsical Words and Felt Flowers

Time for a card I think.  I came across this card a few days ago and just had to head straight for my craft table (which is bearing a remarkable resemblance to our dining table just now!)  You know those cards you come across that just say 'make it now, go directly to the craft table, straight past the dishes, straight past the vacuum cleaner, gotta make it NOW.' 

Here's my version. 

(I must confess it doesn't take a lot to persuade me to go past the vacuum cleaner and dishes!)

I chose the colours from the Flowers Fusion Felt Flowers tin - Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie and Old Olive. You can find the felt flower tins on page 144.  There are two great colour combos to pick from.  I love the tins too - once you've used the flowers you can recycle them as nice gift tins, filled up with something special.

The greeting is from the SaleABration set Whimsical Words and I got my embossing gear out to give it a bit of black shine.  SaleABration details here.

The brads are the Earth Elements pack on page 149.   

Thought I'd take a couple of pics before I completed the card to show you how I put it together.  I didn't want the brads to show through the card so cut across the bottom of the Rose Red cardstock in a way fashion.  Then popped the flowers along just above the bottom edge of the Rose Red, poked my paper piercer through to make a hole, poked a brad through this and opened the brad arms (hmmm arms, legs, what do you call those bits??) Repeated this for each flower.  Here's what the reverse side looks like.

Then I just flipped it over, popped some adhesive on the back and stuck it to my Pumpkin Pie card. 

Have you got a SaleABration stamp set?  I hope to show you lots more ideas for what to do with this year's sets in the coming weeks.

Back tomorrow with a GORGEOUS card using the hostess set Organic Grace.  (Well I think its rather spiffy! I've got it sitting on the bar and have been walking past admiring it all day.  Does anyone else do that?)   The kids have been busy creating too so we've got some new additions to our art wall for some more 'walking past and admiring.'   

Left:  Hannah's creation with her Paperific purchases   Right: Jack spent AGES doing this at Kinderplay last week, painstakingly making sure he'd covered every bit of the paper.   I love our art wall.  (It used to be the front of the fridge but it has expanded around the corner and up the walls.)

MARCH CARD MAKING CLASSES: AVONDALE HEIGHTS

If you're in Melbourne and you're in the mood for some card making and don't want to take over your dining room, come do some crafts on mine!   March classes start this week and there's space left Wednesday and Thursday. We'll be doing some watercolouring, plus a little Markers On Rubber and throwing a bit of embossing into the mix as well.  It should be lots of fun.   Details here.

Happy stamping,

Cheers, Sue

From My Tech Class Ladies

On Thursday we had our last class for Feb and I took a few snaps of the cards the ladies came up with.  A tweak here and a tweak there and a dash of creativity and voila ... some gorgeous originals using the materials provided. 

Here's two from Julia:

(Isn't the butterfly trail a nice touch.)

And here's one from Carol ...

A Sweet Treat Cup card from Cecile ... (The matching smarties coordinate well don't they.)

And a nice bright one to finish courtesy of Sharron ...

Thanks ladies for letting me take a photo and share with the blogland gang.  

(Scuse the photos - not the best lighting of an evening!)

In March we'll be doing some watercolouring at classes using aquapainters with your choice of ink pads, watercolour crayons and markers. Dates and details can be found here.  Some dates are booking out quickly these days so it is a good idea to get your spot early. 

Swing by tomorrow if you'd like to catch our Art With Heart Easter Blog Hop.  (You might need to bring your sunnies for my creation!  Hee hee.) 

Have a great weekend,

Cheers, Sue

Whimsical Words and Butterfly Prints Card

A little touch of sparkly glitter to share with you today.   I think most days can be improved with a dash of glitter!

 

For the greeting on these cards I've used the SaleABration set 'Whimsical Words.'   These fit nicely in some of our punches too for a punched greeting (the ovals work well - wide and large.)  This set works well with Stampin Write Markers too - you can do the different script styles in different colours.  (Click here for info on joining a marker club.)

This set is free with a $100 order placed before the end of March.  (Or check the SaleABration catalogue here for the other 3 choices.)

 Now, another oops moment for me!  I posted those ones before I realised I'd forgotten to add one little finishing touch.  They do look nice with a half pearl from the Pretties Kit.  See ......

 

The Recipe:

Cardstock:  Real Red, Cameo Coral, Tempting Turquoise and Whisper White

Stamp Sets: Whimsical Words, Butterfly Prints, Sprinkles

Punches: Scallop Edge and Butterfly Punch

Ink: Versamark, Real Red and Basic Black

Other:  That cute red gingham ribbon.  (Why have I not used this before? I love it!)

Last Couple Of February Classes

Got any free evenings this week and a sudden desire to do a bit of stamping?   (Avondale Heights, in Melbourne's west.)

There's 3 spots left Wednesday and 1 spot left Thursday if you'd like to make this Glitter Windows Technique card (and two other cards using punches.)   Details here.

Feeling a Bit Plum?

Or you might prefer this Butterfly Prints card in Plum perhaps.  I like to give a couple of colour combination choices at classes.

Newsletter Sneak Preview

Keep an eye out for my March newsletter for another variation on this Glitter Windows card, and for those of you who live too far away for a class, you'll also find step by step pics of how to do this technique. 

You don't want to miss this edition - there's a sign up box at the top right if you'd like to get my newsletter emailed to your inbox at the start of each month.  A great way to stay up to date with the latest Stampin' Up news.

Family Snippets

Here's another little something that brightens my days. 

We walked to kinder this morning.  3 year olds notice such interesting things - I quite like our hand in hand kinder walks.  'Look a pineapple tree.'  (It did sort of look like a pineapple.)  On a recent walk I asked him what daddy did at work.  'He eats his breakfast at work in a plastic bag.'   :-) 

Meanwhile Miss Hannah seems to be getting older every time I look at her!  

Well that better be it from me today or the day will have disappeared before you get to the end of this post!  Hope you're having a sparkly day!

Cheers, Sue

SaleABration: Good Neighbours

I've been having fun playing with my SaleABration stamp sets and thought I'd share a few creations with you over the coming days.

One of this year's sets is called 'Good Neighbours.'  I love the funky trees and mix and match houses!

I was inspired by a card I received from Genna Gifford (a talented team mate) in a team card swap we did recently and used it as a starting point to make these ones.

Supplies Used:

Kraft base card.  Riding Hood Red crimped piece.  Very Vanilla for the stamped panel, matted with Baja Breeze.  Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip and Kiwi Kiss ink pads for the stamping.  Old Olive marker for the grass.  Finally busted my Hemp Twine out of its packet!  Hostess Set Autumn Flair and Sahara Sand Ink for the background stamping. 

I cut out two trees and the roof and popped them up on glue dots (trees) and Stampin' Dimensionals (roof) for some layering.  Our paper snips scissors are just great for cutting out things like this.  I often get people at classes singing their praises.   ($18.95 on page 155 if you're after a nice sharp pair of scissors for papercrafting.) 

Tip: For the trees I tapped them onto the Kiwi Kiss ink pad, then pressed the trunks only onto the Chocolate Chip ink pad.  (Or I could have used a Choc Chip marker.)

Decided to make another with a plain background since I'm a bit of a fan of plain!  Old Olive trees this time and I liked the popped up cloud.

Place a $100 order before the end of March andyou can receive Good Neighbours free as a nice little bonus.  (Or check out the other 3 choices of SaleABration sets here.)

Phone or email me if you'd like to cross a few things off your wish list.  :-)

Phone:  0417 377 057    Email:  smadex@bigpond.com

Special Guest Time:  Peta, Michelle and Linae

I had a lovely time again last night at my 'Cards With Punches' class.  The ladies had their creative hats on and gave the design a little bit of a tweak. 

Here's the sample card once more -

And here are some variations.  (Excuse the lighting - it was night time so not the best time for photography!)

Peta -

Michelle -

and Linae -

With matching cardstock, patterned paper and inks - you just can't go wrong!  

Thanks so much ladies for letting me take pics and share your creations.  :-)

New Feb Class Date: Wednesday February 24th, 8pm

I've just listed an extra class date for February if you'd like to try this card, try the glitter windows technique on a butterfly card and make a bright/fun and yummy card using the new Sweet Treat Cups. 

It is next Wednesday 24th Feb - starting at 8pm.  (Note the later starting time for this class only.)  Phone or email to book your spot.  I'd love to see you there.  It is a great way to have a fun night out, make some cards, and try out different tools and techniques. 

Avondale Heights in Melbourne's west.   Class fee: $20.  All materials supplied.  More details here.

Have a lovely lovely day everyone. 

Cheers, Sue

  

Smarties, Friends to the Rescue, Guest Cardmakers and Valentines Day

Goodness - that's a bit of a mouthful of a title isn't it.  Lots to share with you today!

My classes kicked off again last week and I so enjoyed seeing some of my class regulars and some new faces too. 

I had a quick 'aagghh' moment last Sunday when I realised that I'd forgotten to order one key part of one of the projects - a roll of red gingham ribbon.  It's so lovely to be part of a warm, friendly team.  I put out a 'help' call on our forum and the gorgeous Christine came to my rescue with this package (with a cute little card tucked in as well.)  A big thanks. :-)  You can find Christine's blog here.

So complete with gingham ribbon, the class materials were all set up.

We've got some card materials from Coles this month (which my two munchkins are quite happy about as they got some of the leftovers!)  Yes smarties and jelly beans.  Its much more fun making a sweet treats cup card with something to put inside it! 

We did learn something though on a very humid sticky Thursday.  Jelly beans warming up after being in the fridge can 'sweat' colour and leave marks on fingers and cardstock!  We'll watch out for that one in future.  :-)

There's room this Wednesday evening and a couple of spare chairs Thursday evening if you'd like to join us for some February card making classes.  Details here.   (Avondale Heights, Melbourne - $20.)

I do love it when people use the class materials and do a bit of tweaking to come up with their own version of the design.   (And especially when they don't mind me taking a photo and sharing with you in blogland, thanks guys!)

Special Guest Cardmaker:  Norma

This was one of our projects for Feb classes.

Norma gave it a bit of a tweak and came up with this.  I really like the little details like the eyelet border and the layered greeting.

Here's a close up of the greeting.  It is 3 small ovals layered on top of each other with dimensionals.

Nice touch!

Special Guest Cardmaker: Simon

Simon used the bits and pieces out on the table to come up with a completely original design.  How cool!

   

Thanks  Simon and Norma for letting me snap a quick pic of your creations.

Happy Valentine's Day

I'm a lucky girl today.   John arrived home from a morning of golf with some roses and chocolates, and is making my favourite lamb stir fry for dinner.  I got struck with a sudden urge to bake and made some love heart biscuits in return.  (And dug a heart embellished basket out of the back of the craft cupboard to pop them in. )

I hope you are having a lovely day.  Back with more next week.

Cheers, Sue  
  

More SaleABration: Vintage Labels

Now until my new SaleABration sets arrive, I'll be showing you lots of things I've been making with Vintage Labels as this was the set I chose for the demonstrator preorder.  I love this card.

Base card is Choc Chip, with a Pink Pirouette panel on top.  Pierced holes down the side were done with my trusy Paper Piercing Template. 

You get this in the Mat Pack (pg 155) and I have a paper piercer to poke the holes with.  Put the setting mat (the hard plastic bit) down first on your work surface, then the soft pad down on top.  Put your cardstock on top of the pad then your Piercing Template on top of the stack.  Line up your holes using the template line and poke away. 

OK back to our card.

I've used the Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip and Pink Pirouette Designer Series Prints papers (pg 135) and stamped onto some with the Vintage Label stamps, punched some with the Curly Label Punch and made some accents with the Heart To Heart Punch and Boho Blossoms Punch.  And a brad to finish off. 

Popped the 4 curly labels up with Stampin' Dimensionals of course.  (I'm stocking up on these during SaleABration.  They're handy if you need to add a little to your order to make up to the nearest $100 for another free SaleABration set.) 

I punched a bunch of these pieces and had fun mixing and matching.  Here's the same design with a slight tweak of the colours.

 

Marker Club News:

We filled those last 2 spots for Group 3, but had some more interest so I've started Group 4. 

Check all the details here and let me know if you'd like to join in the fun of a Marker Club. 

Parcels are posted and tutorials are emailed each month so it doesn't matter where you live. 

$40 per month for 8 months and you'll build  up a great collection of 52 markers, plus lots of other goodies along the way including one SaleABration set if you join the club soon.   

February Classes Starting to Fill:

Are you in the mood for a stamping class?  They're lots of fun.  I hold mine at my place (Avondale Heights, in Melbourne's west.)  We kick off again in February and there are 4 dates to choose from.

$20 for the class and in February we'll be doing some techniques using punches including the gorgeous Glitter Windows.  We'll make a sample for our book, you'll get an instruction sheet to go with that and then you'll make 3 cards and matching envelopes working at your own pace. 

Suitable for beginners and more experienced stampers.  A nice relaxing time out from day to day life and a great way to do some craft without finding a space at home.  Phone or email to book your spot.   12 spots filled so far, 20 still left. 

More details here if you need them.

Back soon with more of my little Curly Label Punch Cards from yesterday using different paper packs.  I'm having so much fun with these I think I'll try ALL the papers!

Cheers,

Sue

Some Sparkle For Your Day

Every day should have a touch of sparkle.  My little munchkins are often the sparkle in my day.  Today we had some glitter to add an extra dose!

Stamp Sets:  Lovely As A Tree (I finally got this set after seeing so many lovely things created with it!) Snow Swirled, En Francais background stamp.

Colours: Handsome Hunter cardstock and marker, Close To Cocoa marker, Sahara Sand ink, Kraft and Vanilla cardstock

Other: Versamark, Heat & Stick Powder, Dazzling Diamonds, Heat Tool, Sponge Daubers
 

Hmmm lets turn that flash off for a bit more of the sparkle!

Have a spare seat tonight if you're feeling like a spur of the moment stamping and glittering class and want to make one of these, or several spare seats next Tuesday if you're more of a plan ahead girl!  Details here.  Edited to add: Ooh gotta be quick, last seat booked for tonight.

Hope your day has some sparkle today.

Happy Stamping!  Sue

 

Stained Glass Christmas: Wish For Peace Stamp Set

October already so I'm guessing some of you are starting your Christmas cards to avoid the mad December rush.  Here's one made with Wish For Peace stamp set ($29.95, pg 32)

Elements of this card were inspired by a card from Claire Daly that I got in a team Christmas Card swap.  You can find that card here.

This one uses the Stained Glass technique with markers and vellum.  This is one of the cards we're making at this month's technique classes.  There are a few spots left Wed 28th if you'd like to join us and try the technique.  Details here.

Here's a closer view.

The greeting is embossed onto patterned paper and uses the Christmas Greeting from Punches Three (hostess set) then I've trimmed off the top and bottom.  I've used the Word Window punch and Designer Label punch to complete the panel.  (You need to cut the Word Window one in half to extend it a little.)  A bit of sponging helps tie it all together.

Hope your Christmas card creations are coming along well.  Who has made a start??

Cheers, Sue

Sparkly Great Friend Card

Time for a card!  I had a lovely time yesterday doing some stamping with two friends from my team - Angela Dickins and Sue Bayliss.  We met at Ange's place and raided her stash (and ideas!) to make this card.  (Thanks Ange.  Yummy lunch too!)

The Recipe:

Stamp Set: Great Friend (from the Spring Mini)

Colours: Regal Rose, Whisper White and Close To Cocoa

Other: Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon, Crystal Effects, Dazzling Diamonds, Half Pearls from the Pretties Kit, Eyelet Border Punch

Based on this card by Jayne Mercer. 

You get a bit more of the sparkle in this shot -

OK better go get that vacuum cleaner out before my class ladies arrive tonight.  Think you could put together a box of weetbix if you gathered all the crumbs on our floor right now! 

We're doing 2 cards using Stained Glass technique (including a gorgeous Christmas one I'll show you soon) and trying out a bunch of colouring tools - crayons, pastels, markers and more.  Spaces are booking out fast but there's a few spots left if you're quick - including a few tonight if you have a spur of the moment desire to head out for an evening of stamping!   Details here.

Cheers, Sue

  

Art Journal Covers: Part 2

During August my talented class ladies turned their creative energies towards embellishing their art journal covers for their technique books.

You can see the first batch in this post here, and my one here.  And here are the ones from last week.  I so, so enjoyed seeing what everyone came up with, and what colours and embellishments they chose.  They look even better in real life - photographing at night with a flash is not the ideal.

Here is Shelley's:

Narelle's:  (Narelle combined our August technique - Faux Silk - to make the title panel.  Really catches the eye.)

Jodie's:

Peta's:

Michelle's:

and Rosalie's:

Thank you so much to all the art journal cover creators for letting me take snaps and share them with the blogging world. 

All products are from the Stampin' Up! range.   Quite fun to stack a bunch of tools, papers, embellihsments and punches on the table, mix with a lovely group of ladies and see what happens! 

Stay tuned for my newsletter tomorrow for details about October's classes, and heaps more exciting stuff.  (Taking a class break to do some spring cleaning in September!)  Plus newsletter subscribers - this month I'll also be sending a free Christmas Card/Faux Silk Tutorial.  Heaps of steps and heaps of pics so perfect for beginners too.  Hope you like it.  There's a newsletter sign up box in the top right column if you'd like to join the fun.

Birthday Boy:  Guitar Cake

For those that have been reading this blog over the weekend,  I did manage to turn this ...

...into this ...

...into this ...

 .... and finally to this ...

And our birthday boy (3) loved it. 

Catch you tomorrow. 

Cheers, Sue