Sue Madex: Stampin Up Demonstrator Australia

Special Guest Card Makers: Julia, Maria and Hannah

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend.  I started the day getting a hair cut.  A couple of hours reading magazines and getting degreyed - aahh!  Happy school holidays to all the Vic teachers and mums out there.  I'm looking forward to some relaxing with the kids over the next couple of weeks.

I've got some lovely cards to share with you today, not from me but from 3 special guests.

These first creations are from Julia who I met at my classes.  She has some very creative ways to use the Sweet Treat Cups. 

Isn't that just such a great idea!   Julia hand drew the frame of the bike.   

I love this one too .....

The bubbles are a mix of holes punched in the top layer plus some rhinestones.  Love the little snorkler.

And one more for the footy fans ...

Thanks you Julia for sharing 3 fabulous ideas for using Sweet Treat Cups.  (Hmm and I have a big craving for jelly beans now!) 

This card is from another of my class regulars - Maria.  She's used one of my favourite stamp sets - Pocket Silhouettes. 

 

I love the look of the silhouetted images done in white on the coloured squares.  This would be one of those clean and simple designs you could try in a whole range of colours.  Thanks Maria!

My last guest for today is my daughter Hannah (7).  John and Jack headed off to the footy last Sunday and Hannah decided she'd rather stay home with me and make cards.  We had such a fun afternoon getting inky.   Here are her bright and happy creations.

A big thanks to all my special guest card makers. 

Milleara Market Sunday 27th

If you are a local and you have any Stampin' Up questions, want to grab a catalogue, place an order or look at some samples - I'm at my table at Milleara Market tomorrow from 9am until 3pm. 

Milleara Shopping Centre, Cnr Milleara Rd and Buckley St, Avondale Heights.

Have a lovely weekend!   Cheers, Sue

  

Special Guest Cardmaker: Leisa

Goodness where does the day go!  The hours just flash by some days don't they. 

I'm back today to show you some cards from a guest blogger:  Leisa.  Leisa is in my marker club and recently showed me these gorgeous creations.  I knew you'd all love them so thanks Leisa for letting me share them here.

Love these colours together and it makes me want to grab out my eyelet border punch too!  The gorgeous flower is from Echoes of Kindness - a hostess set.  The background stamp is Weathered.

And check out this terrific box - using Cottage Garden and Cottage Wall DSP. 

Thanks again Leisa.  I love to see what people have been making with their goodies!

I think Rich Razzleberry is my new favourite colour.  It goes so well with so many colours.  Love it here with Old Olive and it looks great with Kraft and Soft Suede too.  I've got a lovely swap from convention where the card creator teamed it with Pale Plum and that looks good as well. 

I've got another guest card maker with a card to share but I've run right out of day and haven't taken the photo yet so that will have to be another day! 

Happy Stamping!  Cheers, Sue   

Birthday Cards For Boys .....

...... and some other odds and ends.

How's your weekend?  I've quite been enjoying mine I must say.  Lots of cardmaking, a friend over for dinner, halfway through a novel and a lovely day today with the extended family.  That's a nice recipe I think.

Some cards to share with you first up.  My nephews turn 5 and 2 this month and had a joint birthday party today.  It was nice to catch up with mum, dad and my sisters and brother, and the kids had a ball.  I think Jack jumped on their trampoline for 90% of the party time.  He'll sleep well tonight.  

Here's the birthday cards I made for the boys.

Just one quick snap as I rushed out the door!  I've used Washington Apple DSP (pg 135) which I love for boys' cards, and some matching cardstock - Riding Hood Red, Pumpkin Pie and Bashful Blue.  Then a number from the Sticky Cuts Letters sheets (pg 145.) 

All you do is peel off the backing, stick it to your cardstock or paper, then peel off the top backing (or should that be fronting??) and tip a pot of glitter on.  I press the glitter pile a bit with my fingertip to make sure it sticks well then tip the excess back in the pot.  I used chunky blue first , then topped it with some fine supernova glitter - again in blue.  (Glitters also on pg 145.) 

The letters are super sticky - a bit like our sticky strip adhesive - so the glitter sticks firmly. 

Hannah and I have been busy cardmaking this weekend.  I've been working on my swaps for convention.  Hannah took a card she made to school for show and tell and all the girls wanted one - so she's made 10 this weekend for her classmates.  Rather a good effort I thought!  It was fun to sit on the couch together working on our projects.  Will post some pics of the cards later in the week.

One last thing to share with you today and that is our last collection of boxes.  My final May class group had their turn at box making on Thursday night.  Here's what the ladies came up with.

Thank you to Sharron, Cecile, Linae, Mary, Joanne, and Shelley for letting me take a pic of their boxes to share with you.  Something terrific using Sweet Treat Cups to share with you soon too from Julia.  That's what I love about classes - the sharing of ideas, tips and tricks that happens while we're making our projects.  I learn lots from my class gals, and they learn things from each other too.  You can find details about my June classes here:  June Class Information

Have a terrific week!  Not long until the Stampin' Up Convention: Sydney 2010.   My sister and I head off on Thursday and will be back Sunday.  I'm hoping to meet lots of people whose blogs I read, and perhaps some who visit mine too.  It is always so nice to say hello in person.  Make sure you come say hi if you're a visitor to my patch of blogland.  OK better go finish off some more swaps.  I have a bunch of cut out purple butterflies left that didn't make it onto my first batch of swaps, hoping to come up with a nice home for them tonight!

Happy stamping. 

Cheers, Sue

Scrapbooking, Boxes and Newsletter

Hello, hope your week is starting well and a happy Mothers' Day to all the mums out there.  Hope you had a lovely day yesterday.  I got very spoilt with a sleep in, breakfast in bed and a gorgeous collection of treasures made at kinder and school, mothers' day stall gifts (I love seeing what the kids pick - chocolate featured heavily in Hannah's selections!) and some comfy slippers.  Plus a nice relaxing day spent having fun with John and the kids.  Aaaahh, bliss. 

Stampin Up Scrapbooking

I've got a simple double scrapbook layout to share with you today over at StampAMemory - our scrapbooking website.  It features a bunch of photos I took last year of the back of Hannah's head as she headed out the door to school. 

Here's a sneak peek:

The Sizzlits Lots of Tags die is so handy for making little matching  journalling tags.  It is very handy for using up little scraps of cardstock too.  Click here to see the full post:   StampAMemory:  Hairstyles layout

Madex Creations May Newsletter

If you are part of my newsletter crew, your Madex Creations May Newsletter should have arrived in your inbox last week.  This edition has some step by step pics and instructions for making this baby card.

 

Here's 3 entries from my 'What to say while you press your cling stamp onto the clear block for 3 seconds' Competition from my April newsletter.  (That's quite a mouthful isn't it!)

Michelle:  Inspire, Create, Share!

Fiona:  Stampin' Up sticks!

Mary: Oh wow I can't wait to stamp this one up!

And the winner drawn from the hat .......

.... is the other entry from Fiona:   "Stick,  stick,  stuck."   

Thanks for taking part ladies.  I'll be in touch Fiona to see which pack of DSP (Designer Series Patterned Papers) you've selected as your prize. 

If you'd like to receive my email newsletter each month, just take a look up in the top right column here on my blog and you'll find the sign up box.  Type in your email address, hit go and follow the directions.  I'd love to welcome you to the crew and keep you up to date with specials, the latest product news, upcoming classes and lots of stamping and card ideas.

More Scallop Envelope Boxes

Thought I'd share the boxes the girls made at Thursday's class.  We've got one more group to go this coming Thursday.  There are one or two spots left.  Details here.

Here's Tracy and Sue's creations.

And here are the boxes from Selena and Anne-Marie ...

They look great in such a range of colours/DSP designs.  I'll be back at the end of the week with our final group of boxes from this last May class.  Thanks ladies for letting me share the pics with the blogland crew.

Happy stamping and have a great week,

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

Sparkly Christmas Cards plus Guest Card Maker: Denise

Way back in November (seems like ages ago!) we did Sparkly Christmas Cards at classes.  I've been checking my photo folders and have a couple more to show you.

This one is based very closely on one I found in a Christmas Card Gallery on Claire Daly's blog.   We used heat and stick powder and some of Stampin' Up's gorgeous fine glitter for the lettering since it was a sparkle class. 

I also discovered how much I like Bravo Burgundy as a colour with some matching ink sponged around the edge. Will have to dust off the rest of the pack and use it more often!

Here's another view where you get a touch more of the sparkle.  The letters are popped up on dimensionals.

Tip:  Now the trick with heat and stick powder is to watch it carefully when you're heating it and stop as soon as it changes.  (Thanks Sue Bayliss, glitter queen, for the tip!) You'll see it will look 'wet' then you know its all tacky and you can add your glitter.  Another quick burst with the heat tool seems to 'set' the glitter.   

Stamp Sets:  Lovely Letters and Baroque Motifs

Colours: Bravo Burgundy, Riding Hood Red, Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla

Other: Circle punches and Rhinestone brads, Heat and Stick Powder, Versamark, Fine Glitter and Heat Tool.

One of the other cards we made at Sparkly Christmas Card Class was this one.

I liked the tweak Denise gave the design and she was kind enough to let me take a pic to share with you guys.

Special Guest Card Maker:  Denise

Here's a close up of the rhinestone brad in the centre - it really sets off the card.

Thanks Denise for letting me share your card with the ladies in blogland.

Well, can you tell I'm in housework avoidance mode!! 

Better get back to my 'to do before Christmas' list. 

:-)

Cheers, Sue

Simply Sent Kit: A Card By Hannah

It has been busy this week with preparations for CraftExpo - a big craft show on at the Exhibition Buildings in Carlton from today through until Sunday.    (I'll be there Sunday. Come say hi if you're there exploring all the gorgeous craft stands.)

So today's card is one from Hannah - my 6 year old daughter.  She had fun with her Aunty Lisa making one of the cards from the Simply Sent Kit "No One Like You" (pg 143.)  Didn't she do a good job! 

 

 I love the colours in this kit - Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Kraft and Bashful Blue - a gorgeous combination.

The kit includes everything you need to make 5 cards like Hannah's and 5 of another design.  You get the stamps, little Stampin' Spot inks, cardstock, ribbon, buttons, adhesives and lovely Kraft envelopes.  The kit is $83.95 and when you've made your 10 cards, you'll have stamps and inks you can use on other projects.  Quite a lovely gift for craft lovers.

Hannah even distressed the edges of the Vanilla piece - she really has been watching carefully!

Happy Stamping!
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

Special Guest Card Makers: Anne-Marie and Anne-Marie

Today (while I'm zooming off to Noosa for a few days of sun, friendly stamping girls company and no MUUUUUUMMMMMMMM to be heard!) we have a couple of special guests with cards to share.

Coincidentally they're both Anne-Marie!

Anne-Marie S first with these gorgeous cards.

I just love what Anne-Marie has made here using the hostess set 'Live Like You Mean It.'   Definitely going to give this one a go.  Isn't it striking?!

And how cute are these tiny baby cards. (They fit in the palm of your hand.)

And now some creations from Anne-Marie W who has been busy with the 'All In The Family' set.

Love those babies!

Love the dresses with fabric and beads.  Very creative!  And now some sparkly 'Crazy For Cupcakes.'

Anne-Marie makes gorgeous vintage cards too like this ...

Thanks so much to both of you for sharing your creations with the good folk here in blogland.   Leave the girls a comment to say thanks if you get a chance!

And with the magic of Typepad I've set this blog to update while I'm away.  Pop back tomorrow for a look at something special and again on Friday for a peek at my swaps for the guest swap.  I only had to make 6, the Incentive Trip earners made 31 - ye gads!  Actually I made a few extra in case anyone has leftovers :-) 

Cheers, Sunning Herself In Noosa Sue

Guest Card Maker: Anne-Marie S

Firstly a big thanks for all the lovely comments on my last post - very much appreciated.  I'll be drawing a winner for the blog candy tomorrow night so stay tuned for that.

Our guest card maker for today is Anne-Marie who has come along to some classes in the last couple of months.  She recently showed me some of the cards she's been making with her new stamping supplies.  I'm sure you'll agree they are very elegant designs.   Thanks for letting me share them with the blogland crew Anne-Marie! 

This card features the stamp set Live Like You Mean It and I just love the colours Anne-Marie has used.

 

And these two cards use the now retired Mostly Flowers set - loved that stamp set.

 

 

Thanks for letting me share your creations with other crafty people Anne-Marie.  They are just gorgeous and I really like your card making style.

Now I'm off to punch a bunch of flowers!   I'm visiting a nursing home this afternoon and we're making one of those flowerpot cards that has been circulating in cyberspace lately.  We're doing a very simple version that works for the young crafters out there, and for those whose fine motor control is not quite what it used to be.  Will be back later to show you.

Cheers,  Sue