Hi.  I've got a post over at Aussie Scrapbooking today about using odd items in your scrapbook layouts.  If that interests you - pop on over and have a peek.  You can find it here.   This is the layout from Jack's album. 

Back tomorrow with a masculine birthday card.  We had a big birthday day today.  Hannah had a classmate's party then we had a little gathering for Jack.  We also sang the birthday song for my brother.  (I'll show you his card tomorrow.)  Hannah was most excited.  When she got up she said, 'Yay, we have 2 parties today.  I'll be eating crap all day.'  Hee hee.  Better be a fruit and veg day tomorrow!

Cheers, Sue

Have you got your eye on any of the following stamp sets?

• Merry Merry

• Artfully Asian

• Nursery Necessities

• Bodacious Bouquet

• Carte Postale

• Priceless

Hmm checking those wish lists!

Well - you might be interested to know that if you order any of these sets during September, you get a free coordinating Stampin' Around Jumbo Wheel.

So if any of those sets are on your wish list, this might be the month to cross them off and receive an added bonus of a wheel to click into your handle!  Phone or email me if I can assist with an order or Stampin' Up! query.   

My newsletter this month has heaps more on Stampin' Around wheels if you are a little new to them.  If you are on my newsletter list, stay tuned - coming soon to an inbox near you!  If you are not - it's not too late to register.  There is a newsletter registration box there on the left.

Family News

The kids have been getting into some creating lately too and I promised them I'd post some pics of their efforts.  Here are Jack's snakes he had fun making at Kinderplay and Hannah has been busy decorating a pack of butterfly cut outs John found for her (when he was off hunting me some rhinestones!) 

Some more colourful creations for our art wall - where's the blu tak? 

Cheers, Sue

Well - its exciting to me anyway!  

I've mentioned the website Aussie Scrapbooking a few times lately you might have noticed as I've been enjoying reading the scrapbooking blog posts there and trying some of the challenges and competitions. 

I'm quite chuffed to let you know that I will be joining their crew of regular contributors so keep an eye out for my scrapbooking posts over there. 

www.aussiescrapbooking.com.au if you want to take a peek.

Most of my scrapbooking tends to be about my two munchkins.  I think I specialise in higgledy piggledy albums with a bit of this and a bit of that, rather than working on one project from start to finish. 

Anyone else like this?   I'm the same with other crafts and hobbies.  When I was having a knitting phase I had 3 or 4 items on the go at once as I got sick of working with the same colour for yonks - :-) 

It suits me though. We love looking through the assortment of albums on the shelves and remembering snippets of daily life that we would otherwise have forgotten I am sure.  That is the real magic of scrapbooking and why it is such a passion of mine.

I'm looking forward to my new role at Aussie Scrapbooking.   Pop by sometime and have a look around. 

Cheers, Sue

Wow - where did that two years go?  My little lad turned 2 yesterday. 

He is a bit of a cutie.  (In between tantrums of course!) 

Here is the card I made for him.  A nice, bright, simple design.

The Recipe:

Stamp Sets: Best Friends Upper and Eat Cake

Cardstock: Brilliant Blue, Real Red and Whisper White

Inks: Brilliant Blue and Real Red.  I used both for the lettering.

Other: Just my mat pack and paper piercer for the holes

I had the camera out for some photos and snapped this quick little affectionate moment.

Aaawwwww.  We got Jack a Thomas backpack and bag set and he just loved it.  He has been wheeling it around the house ever since, stopping every now and then to give it a quick smooch. 

Happy birthday Jack.  Back soon with some more cards and some scrapbooking news to share.

Cheers,  Sue

Hello and hope you had a lovely weekend.  John, the kids and I had a lovely day at the Melbourne Aquarium on Saturday.  I'd post some pics but I didn't take the camera - decided to just enjoy the day with no peering through the viewfinder!  Hannah liked the sting rays getting fed by the divers, and Jack loved everything that was big.  "BIIIIIIIGG FISH, BIIIIIIIIIGGGG!"  

I spent much of Sunday at Milleara Craft Market and met some more lovely locals.  Congratulations to Sharron from Niddrie who won the prize basket this month!  

Now for a card I made last week.  I had to quickly have a bit of a play with 'Petal Prints' stamp set and 'Fine Lace' background stamp on this particular day.  Mum ordered them and dad was popping by to visit and also to pick them up.  Thought I'd just make sure they were in good working order first - hee hee.

Background Stamp Tips

Now if you are new to background stamps (as I am) I thought it might be useful to take a few snaps of how I go about working with them.  I should say first though that I am certainly not a background stamp expert (as I don't actually have any in my collection yet.)  I am however not a bad googler!

Firstly - it helps to place your background stamp rubber side up and swipe your inkpad over it.  (I used a wiping motion first then tapped to finish.)

Then I placed my piece of card on top of the stamp and made sure to press evenly all over, and removed it carefully in one motion.

And voila - ready to use on a card.

Our background stamps measure about 11.4 x 14.6cm and can be found on pages 107 and 108.  They are $33.95 each and there are quite a selection to choose from.

Now what to do with my background.  Well first I had to try out 'Petal Prints.'   Thought I'd try it out with my watercolour crayons. 

Watercolour Crayon Tips

I have a set of Bold Brights watercolour crayons but wanted some softer colours for this one.  Then I remembered that I had 3 other colours from a Simply Sent kit I got early in the year - handy!   (Once you have made the cards from the kit you have some tools and stamps you can use again and again.  Pg 12 - 14 for the current range of kits.) 

I coloured directly onto the stamp with my Perfect Plum crayon.

Added some blue and green.

Now if I had a little water spritzing bottle I would have given it a light mist with the water spray to dampen the crayoning.  (Note to self: Buy water spritzing bottle, or use up my Stampin' Mist so I can refill that bottle.)  Instead I used my aquapainter.  Just a little damp or you'll end up with a gluggy mess.  Yep - speaking from experience here, this is one of those techniques you'll want to experiment with til you get it right.  Or perhaps that is just me!  :-)

Now stamp.  Say 'oh, what a gluggy mess!'   Repeat above steps but put less water on!  Hee hee.

OK ready to assemble my experiments and see if they come together in a card!

I stamped over the Pretty In Pink background with some of the petal prints leaves (Old Olive -stamped off once.)  Sponged the edge of the flower piece, matted it with Perfect Plum and added a couple of matching eyelets.  Some Old Olive ribbon with a rub on from my Cherished Memories set to finish.

And now that I'd tested out the stamps they weare ready to go to their new home!  Thanks mum.  Have fun with them.

Cheers,   Sue

I was going to call this post Eggplant Always but Elegant Always suits the card a little better I think!

For this one I used Elegant Eggplant for the base card.  (Hint: If you cut a piece of A4 cardstock into 3 pieces - and trim off one edge a little - you can make 3 square cards.  9.9cm is one third of an A4 piece.) 

The stems are stamped using Versamark.  I stamped the heart from Always Stamp Set using Whisper White craft ink onto another piece of Elegant Eggplant and cut it out. Hint: When you are using craft ink, don't forget to let it dry! 

I used my markers again for the spotlight.  (See here for my earlier version of this technique if you need more details.)  A piece of Purely Pomegranate Satin Ribbon and a Carte Postale Mon Amie greeting in White Craft Ink to finish.  Oh, and a Paper Piercer and Mat Pack for the rows of holes at the top and bottom.  A simple (and inexpensive) way to add a finishing touch to your card.

Happy Stamping! 

Cheers,  Sue

A few weeks ago Aussie Scrapbooking had a scrapbooking competition. You had to use notebook paper.  I thought our Stampin' Up Designer Series Paper - Notebook - would be just the thing to use.   Here is my entry.

The Step By Steps:

I used a 12 x 12 sheet of Night Of Navy cardstock for my layout then added some offcuts from the patterned paper pack, including one with my grocery list on it.  I used photoshop to soften my photo of the milk cartons and to add the journalling text over the top and printed this on plain paper.  A photo matted in white and the title using Paperloft - White Washed Alphabet stickers and I was all done. 

A New Record ...

I think this sets a new scrapbooking record for me as I took the photo of the milk cartons and completed the layout all on the same day!  (Now what possessed me to take the photos of the milk cartons - hmm guess I am just slightly camera obsessed and take snaps of lots of milestones and daily trivia!)  Actually I think there is something about life with your youngest child - you know that each stage they move through is the last time this will be a feature of life in your family.  Touch of poignancy there even in the more mundane events. 

Mind you I think the day we say goodbye to nappies I'll be scrapbooking me yahooing like a mad woman in a Toyota ad. 'Oh what a feeling!' 

Cheers, Sue

Oh and if you have some time and enjoy your scrapbooking, you might like to pop by Aussiescrapbooking  and see what their latest competitions are.  They have sketch, layout and product comps each month with great prizes.  Or visit their Top 100 for a great list of Aussie scrapbooking internet sites.

This is one of the stamp sets that took my eye from the new Spring Mini Catalogue and I have been enjoying experimenting with it.  Since we've been doing Spotlighting this month in classes I thought I'd try combining this set with that technique.

The Step By Steps:

This card is a small square one on Whisper White cardstock.  I've stamped the gorgeous heart from Always Stamp Set in Basic Gray ink.  I used Elegant Eggplant for the greeting Mon Amie which is from Carte Postale Stamp Set.  Then I got my markers (Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive, Rose Red and Regal Rose) and coloured directly to the heart stamp.  I gave it a huff then stamped this onto a scrap of Whisper White. I punched out a section with my 1 1/4 inch circle punch then matted this with a 1 3/8 inch punched circle of Elegant Eggplant.  Now for the trickiest part!  I lined it up carefully and adhered it on top of the Basic Gray heart.

If this one takes your fancy, I've got another version of this card on an Elegant Eggplant base card with White Craft Ink so you might like to pop back over the weekend for that one.

Tomorrow a quick look at scrapbooking lasts! (As opposed to firsts which I more frequently find I do.)

Hope you are having a good week,

Cheers, Sue

I've been making Christmas cards lately in reds and greens but I am sure that stunning Purely Pomegranate satin ribbon has been singing Christmas carols trying to get me to notice it! 

So here is my Purely Pomegranate take on Christmas.

Thank you to Lucy from last Saturday's Christmas class.  One of the cards she came up towards the end of the afternoon inspired my design for this one.

Stamp Set: The Snowflake Spot

Cardstock: Old Olive, Purely Pomegranate, Naturals Ivory

Inks: Purely Pomegranate, Gold Encore for the tag background

Other: Versamark and Gold Embossing Powder, Purely Pomegranate Satin Ribbon, Mat Pack and Paper Piercer, Tag Punch, Gold Brad

Now I made 8 versions of this one for a Christmas card swap I'm taking part in so I can give a few tips in case you decide to try mass producing this one for Christmas cards this year.  I did the embossing first and did a whole A4 piece of Pomegranate card.  I did a section of the A4 piece of card at a time, stamping the large snowflake first (in Versamark) then the smaller snowflake to fill in gaps.  Tipped on the embossing powder, bit of magic with the heat tool, then went on to the next section.  I think I did the page in about 5 sections.  Not the best pic here it is.

Then I cut it into 8 sections, matted them with Naturals Ivory and assembled the other parts of the card.  I did a similar thing with the tags.  Stamped a thin piece of Naturals Ivory card with the snowflakes and gold ink pad.  Then stamped Joy in Purely Pomegranate (or Cheers.) 

I flipped my tag punch over so I could see where the lettering was positioned and when I was happy with how it was lined up I punched the tags.  (Much easier than trying to position my greeting stamp onto a tag.  Somehow I always seem to rush this step and forget to use my Stamp A Ma Jig.)

All ready to post off.  Then comes the fun part, waiting for my package of 8 cards from the other girls in the swap to arrive.  I love seeing what everyone comes up with. 

For The Locals:

This is one of the designs we'll be doing in September Stamp A Stack Classes.  Thursday September 18th, 7.30pm.  $15 and we make 6 cards, 3 each of 2 different designs.  Check the Class Dates and Details page for more details and information about booking. 

One more before I go - an Old Olive ribbon version.  I think I like the Pomeg Satin better though.  What do you think??

It is market time again.  If you are in the area, I'll be at Milleara Craft Market this Sunday with my table of creations, catalogues, class details and other bits and pieces.  Pop by and say hi.  You can register for classes, place an order or ask any Stampin' Up questions you might have.  Grab a Spring Mini Catalogue if you don't have one yet.  I bring along a range of supplies so if there is a technique you'd like to know more about I hope I can help out there.  Milleara Shopping Centre, Cnr Buckley St and Milleara Rd, Avondale Heights.  9 - 3pm. 

Cheers,  Sue

This is the other card we made at my technique class this month using the technique of spotlighting.  I've used the hostess set 'Infinite Goodness' with its rough outlined flowers, leaves and dragonfly.  (I love dragonfly stamps!) 

Stamp Set: Infinite Goodness (pg 21)

Inks: Basic Black, Blue Bayou and Versamark for the subtle dragonfly on the greeting piece. I also used my Soft Sky ink pad with my blender pen to colour the dragonfly on the spotlighted section.  A few touches of Blue Bayou ink there too.

Cardstock: Whisper White, Blue Bayou, Soft Sky

Other: Stampin' Dimensionals to raise the quote and my 2 circle punches for the spotlight.

If you live in Melbourne's west and are interested in this technique, perhaps you'd like to book in for the next class taking place on Thursday 28th August, 7.30pm at my place in Avondale Heights.  (Bookings close 1 week beforehand.)  We will be making a sample to pop in our technique book along with the instruction card, then making some cards afterwards.  The other technique we are doing in this August class is masking.  Scroll down a few posts to see the butterfly card we will be making.  Class fee is $15.  All materials supplied.  Bring along a craft mat, paper trimmer and scissors if you have these tools (or borrow mine for the evening.)   

Can't make it to a class.  Get a group of 4 or more together and I can bring the class to you.  Phone to arrange a time. 

I've been busy at my craft desk (OK and in front of the TV watching the Olympics!!) so have lots more creations to show you over the next week.  Stay tuned!

I think the Olympics have been on a bit in our place actually as DS (soon to be 2) Jack's latest frequently heard phrase is: "Been enough TV mummy." 

In other Jack snippets - he has been doing quite a good job of feeding himself in recent months and learning to drive a spoon and fork.  Lately he's been trying a few less conventional methods such as this one with the bowl of weetbix.

Have a great week!

Cheers, Sue