Hello Again,

Just a quick note today to let you know about a TODAY ONLY SPECIAL.  We crafters in Australia loved Stampin' Up's September Ribbon Bundle Special so much that they have just run out of the Certainly Celery and So Saffron Ribbon Bundles.

*** In its place for today only, if you spend $100 on products you will receive 1 roll each of Chocolate Chip and Rose Red 1" Double Stitched Ribbon free with your order.  Two gorgeous ribbons to add to your projects. ***

Here's the Rose Red decorating my post it note holder, and the Choc Chip just lounging around looking tempting!

You can phone or email orders through to me up to 10pm tonight (Wednesday) if you'd like to get some free Choc Chip and Rose Red Ribbon.

Email:  smadex@bigpond.com

Phone: 0417 377 057 or (03) 9325 4913

Cheers,  Sue

Hello again,

I've been enjoying some chill out time with the kids over the Victorian school holidays, plus getting stuck into some spring cleaning & junk sorting and my inks haven't gotten much of a look in - and neither has this blog! 

Managed to direct some of my spring cleaning energies to my craft room/study!  It's not perfect but MUUUUUCH better than its previous state of messiness!

Looked so inviting I sat straight down and whipped up a quick layout using some photos taken of Jack a year ago.

Some Black textured 12 x 12 and Kraft A4 cardstock, plus Urban Oasis patterned paper and a couple of my circle punches and a corner rounder.  Jotted some thoughts with my Stampin' Write journaller and voila.  About 10 minutes and all done.  This style of scrapbooking works well for me at present.  I can only seem to find short bursts of scrapping time and like to have completed layouts, so quick = super for me just now. 

The journalling reads:

July 2008:  You love puzzles Jack.  I tipped all the pieces from four of your jigsaws out on this particular day.  You're a picture of concentration as you complete the challenge. You have quite an attention span for someone almost two.  I wonder what challenge you'll tackle next!

My DSP (patterned paper) display book made it easy to choose the papers.  I just grabbed out my photos and flicked through the pages until I found some colouring that worked with the tones in the pics.

Note:  Email me if you'd like the template for the book (free), andcheck the bottom of this page here if you'd like to purchase the 3" x 3" squares of DSP (patterned paper) to make up the display book.

Now what else have the family and I been up to over the last week or so??

Hmmmmm, baking our favourite banana bread ....

Feeding kangaroos at Ballarat Wildlife Park .....

Here's one with a joey in its pouch ...

An emu too for my overseas blog visitors ....

OK and a koala  .....

Panning for gold at Sovereign Hill (Hannah looked VERY hard and Jack had a ball playing with gravel and water but we didn't find any specks)

A horse and carriage ride ...

Checking out some real estate (from the gold rush days) ...

All cosy in our motel room with books, books, books ......

Setting up the quarantine tank ready for some new fish ....

Some plasticine craft time (We're not quite done but Jack's doing one, Hannah another and I joined in for the third - and I think I'm having the most fun!)

.... and lots, lots more.

A heap more school holiday activities planned for the next week so this might be the last instalment for another week or so.  I'll be having card making withdrawal symptoms by then so no doubt will have lots of creations to share again.

In the meantime, there'll be lots of scrapbooking inspiration over at StampAMemory so don't forget to check what the girls and I have been creating over there. 

Here's a sneak peek of a couple of my contributions to date.

Before I Head Off ...

*** The September Ribbon special ends soon.  Phone or email me to place your order if you'd like your bonus 18 metres of gorgeous ribbon.  Details here.

*** Don't forget to book your place for an October class if you'd like to try Stained Glass with vellum and markers, plus some other colouring techniques.  Details, dates and available spots here. 

*** Get in touch if you'd like to join my next Marker Club - starting in October.  A great way to build up a collection of markers in all the Stampin' Up colours over 8 months, plus get 8 marker technique tutorials, a little gift each month from me and some hostess goodies.  Details here.

Catch you again soon.

Cheers, Sue

A quick card first.  This one was for my brother's 30th recently. 

Silver (from the Metallics pack) and Basic Gray were my chosen colours for this one.

Finally got my corduroy buttons (Spring Mini pg 4) out too after hoarding them for a bit!  I crimped the piece of Urban Oasis patterned paper for some added texture.

The tag has a stamp from Circle Circus stamped off once as a background, with a birthday greeting stamp from On Your Birthday.  I've used my neutrals markers for those, and punched it with my wide oval punch.

If you're interested in joining a marker club, I'm taking names for my next group - commencing October 2009.  Details here.  There are a few spots left if you'd like to join us.

And now time for those prize draw results.  Drum roll please ......

Hostess Prize Draw:

* Carla won a Level 1 hostess set and chose Best Yet

* Karen won $30 to spend and chose the Scallop Circle Punch

* Melinda and Amy won the Colour Sampler Cards

* Lisa and Cathy won the Embellishment Packs

Not So Local Prize Draw

* Patricia and Olivia won the Colour Sampler Cards

* Mary and Shelley won the Embellishment Packs

Congratulations ladies.  I'll pop your prizes in with your orders once they arrive.  For the 'Not So Local' prize winners, your prizes will be in the post later this week. 

And that's it from me for a few days.  We're off to Ballarat for some school holiday fun with the kids.  Normal transmission will resume midweek! 

In the meantime though there will be lots of scrapbooking gorgeousness to look at over at StampAMemory so check in there for your dose of Stampin' Up! inspiration.

Click here for the StampAMemory blog

Cheers,

Sue

G'day Everyone,

I have a very exciting new site to tell you about today for those girls who love scrapbooking, who love browsing scrapbooking sites, or for anyone thinking about getting into this wonderful hobby.

I'm part of the design team for a brand new blog called Stamp A Memory.

We're a team of keen scrapbookers who will be showcasing all the gorgeous things you can do in scrapbooking with your Stampin' Up! products.  We'll have layout ideas, product information, and lots of tips and hints, plus some challenges and competitions.  

We've been busy beavers there in the background over the last few weeks, so you'll find plenty to read and see already in the posts and galleries.  Info on adhesives, stitching on layouts, Hoppy Memories Simply Scrappin' Kit, stamping titles and much more.   Hope you find something there that gives a little inspiration to get those inks and stamps out and get scrapbooking.   

So how do you find it?  Right here   -   StampAMemory website

While you're there you might like to sign up for our StampAMemory newsletter.  When you do you'll get a free ebook to download with 8 Stamping Techniques to use in your scrapbooking. 

Happy Scrapping!

Cheers,  Sue

I had some quiet time at my craft desk last week one evening and was in the mood for some scrapbooking.  Didn't have long to spend though so decided to keep it nice and simple.  

I've used some of our gorgeous textured cardstock from a Neutrals Pack - the Very Vanilla and some Basic Gray.  Some corner rounding, a flower from Fifth Avenue Floral embossed in white onto vellum cardstock, and two of those gorgeous big brads from the Spring Mini that I've been waiting to use on something.  

The journaling reads:

Hannah and Maddy: July 2009.  There's a special bond beween you two.  I love seeing you enjoy each other's company.  Watching mum showing Hannah a doily her mother had made - I could almost see the connections reaching out to span generations.

I'll have to scrapbook this photo soon while the scrapping bug has hit.  My brother came over for dinner and brought his electric guitar with him.  Jack (3) was spellbound and sat there strumming away while Brendan did the chords part.  Jack sat so long that he got pins and needles in his foot! 

He's got quite a long attention span when it comes to music our Jack!  Last week we dropped Hannah off at calisthenics and came home again.  While I was fiddling about with dinner, Jack was strumming along to a Pink CD.  He sat and played for 40 minutes until it was time to go get Hannah again - so much that he's got his first guitar blister on his finger!  Those guitar playing calluses should be building up soon at this rate!

Have a great week!

Cheers, Sue

Thought I'd drop past the computer and say a super quick hi.  Have had a busy few days and am enjoying a lovely weekend having fun with the family so nothing much to show you!  But I dug back in the files and found this card that I don't think I've blogged.  (My newsletter gals might recognise it though.) 

Just a quick one I made with some offcuts of Baja Breeze and Not Quite Navy cardstock and my eyelet border punch.  I quite liked the lacy effect of layering lots of eyelet bordered pieces.

We got some herbs and petunias today to bring a bit of spring into the bedraggled looking pots on our balcony so I'd best be off to don the gardening gloves.   I can smell the banana bread the kids and I baked too so perhaps a detour through the kitchen first.  Mmmmmm!

Back with some more creations during the week.

Hope you're having a lovely Spring weekend.

Cheers, Sue

Nearly forgot - My Hostess Prize Draw takes place next weekend, so if you're a local and would like to take part, remember to get your order to me by this Friday 18th September.  1 entry for every $50 of product ordered.  Details here. 

Do you have leftover bits of cardstock that are tiresome to sort or store, but seem a waste to throw out?  Head over to Jayne Mercer's blog for a great way to make use of them.

She's collecting punched shapes for the Play Therapists at Westmead Children's Hospital to use in craft activities with children.  Any punch, any colour, any cardstock.  Read all about it and how you can contribute in this post.

I've been busy making cards but they are for my Marker Club tutorials so nothing to show today I'm afraid except this little sneak peek.  (Just waiting for my trusty hubby to PDF the tutorial and email it back and they'll be on their way girls in Group 1.)

If you're interested in joining a marker club I'm gathering names for my next group - due to start October 2009. Details here.  Get in touch if you'd like to build your marker collection, plus some extra goodies and a Marker Technique Tutorial each month. 

Cheers, Sue

Hannah had a birthday party on the weekend for a friend.  Being the organised girl that I am - I started the card at 11.45am and we left for the party at 12.30.  (Smile!)  I love how it turned out despite the short timeline. 

The Recipe:

Stamp Sets:  Schoolbook Serif Alphabet and Cheers To You

Cardstock:  Pacific Point

DSP (Patterned Paper):  Riding Hood Red and Pacific Point Patterns Packs (pg 135)

Other: Versamark, Embossing Buddy, Heat Tool, White Embossing Powder, Riding Hood Red Striped Grosgrain Ribbon and Earth Elements Brads, Small Star Punch, Tag Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals.

A quick stamp on the envelope makes a nice touch I think.  Doesn't have to be complicated.

I loved Marelle Taylor's card in a recent swap.  She'd punched small stars and stuck them onto the same colour cardstock.  Check it out at the bottom of this post here.  It was one of those ideas that I filed straight under 'Must Do That!'  I punched them, a quick run of Snail Adhesive on the back and voila.  (I love Snail when I'm in a big rush, no mess, no fuss, no backing paper to peel.)  I found it looked good to have some stars going off the edge (then trimmed the overlap with scissors.)

I had a leftover share of 6" x 6" squares of all the DSP (patterned paper) in our main catalogue.  We raided it for our Art Journal Cover Class.  (Running another one - details here.) 

I dug the remainder out for this card and hunted through to find some 'boyish' looking colours and patterns.  The letters popped right out with some white embossing.  I stamped and embossed them all on the one 6" square, then flipped my tag punch over to check the positioning and punch.  I know I probably sound like a broken record, but will mention again - stamp first, punch last works really well for me.  

Another tip for anyone else whose cards sort of evolve rather than start out planned:  I'd already made the base of the card before I did the tags and didn't want the brads to poke through to the inside of the card, so I opened them behind the tag and then stuck the whole thing on with dimensionals. 

Happy birthday Ben!  Hannah and I met Ben and his mum Rose at mother's group when the kids were just babies.  Now they are off to school and we car pool each week.  The time just flies by!  Seems like not that long ago that we were trying to get 10 bubs to lie on mats for a photo. 

Have a great week!  I'm off to put the finishing touches on a Marker Club Tutorial! 

Then time to head down to the rumpus room.  I had the brilliant idea yesterday to gather all of the toys from all over the house and dump them in the rumpus room for a big clean out, sort out, chuck out session.  The chuck out part wasn't going so well yesterday with Miss Hannah supervising the rubbish box!  Might tackle some more of that bit when she's not looking! 

I'm sure those toys multiply when I'm not looking.  Some weird toy breeding program happening!  Anyone else tackling some spring cleaning.  Took a before pic, hope I don't run out of steam before I get to the 'after' shot.  Hee hee!

Cheers, Sue

Hello again.  We caught up with my dad last weekend and celebrated Fathers' Day along with some family birthdays so I can show you the card I made him.

The Recipe:

Stamp Set:  Greetings Eight (I cut the extra words off the stamped 'dad' image for a simpler look.

Cardstock: The base card is that lovely coverweight Sweet Slumber Specialty (pg 133.) 

The coordinating cardstock I've used is Baja Breeze, So Saffron and Riding Hood Red. 

Ink: Riding Hood Red for the greeting and some sponging with the red and Baja Breeze. 

Other:  Baja Breeze 1" ribbon, sponge daubers, Stampin' Dimensional foam tabs of course.

Quite a quick and simple one to put together but I like it.

(And don't you love the wrapping on the gift?  Got it wrapped at the store and must give that idea a try.   Just some plain brown paper, a strip of white and a decorative ribbon.  The gift store was Red Bird in Keilor - I just love having a browse through their store.  Lovely things there.)

Anyway I digress - back to the card!

I like the extra depth a bit of sponging gives to some layers.

The inside looked a tad messy! So I added some cardstock panels - much neater now!

Happy Fathers' Day dad!

Love Sue  (oops, better make that Susan for dad!) 

xx

September is here, Spring is in the air and to top it all off Stampin' Up! have a REALLY great special this month.

From September 1st - 30th, you can get an exclusive ribbon bundle FREE when you

1) Spend $100 on any Stampin' Up! products   or

2) Host a $600 workshop.

The ribbon bundle includes 9.1 metres EACH of

Certainly Celery 5/8" poly-twill ribbon and

So Saffron 5/8" grosgrain ribbon.

I'm just a tad excited about this one (can you tell☺) because Certainly Celery is one of my favourite colours and I like just about anything Celery, and So Saffron matches with HEAPS of our current patterned paper range.  Now John thinks I'm rather nuts to get excited about ribbon, but I'm sure I'm not alone hey girls!

So, how do you take advantage of this offer?

You can place an order by phone or email during September.  I'd be happy to help. 

Phone: 0417 377 057

Email: smadex@bigpond.com

Oh And One More Thing ....

Back in April I held a Hostess Prize Draw at my new catalogue launch.  10 lucky winners selected either a Level 1 hostess set or $30 to spend on Stampin' Up products.  You can read about it here.

The good news is that it is on again in September.  Here's a quick run down.  You'll find more details in my newsletter.  (Coming to your inbox later today newsletter folk!)

SUE'S SEPTEMBER HOSTESS LEVEL 1 PRIZE DRAW

• For every $50 of product ordered from me, you'll get 1 entry into the draw.
• Orders must be received by Friday September 18th for this prize draw, and then collected from my place once the boxes arrive. All orders for the draw will be placed on Saturday September 19th.
• Winners will be announced here on Saturday September 19th.
• Note: The number of Hostess Level 1 prizes will depend on the total value of orders placed.
• 4 more prizes from me to add to the list - 2 embellishment packs and 2 sets of my Colour Sampler Cards will be in the prize pool too.
• Order $100 of goodies and get 2 entries into the draw, plus of course your free ribbon bundle.

And for those customers who are a little further away, you can read about my Not So Local Prize Draw in this month's newsletter.

Have a great day.

Catch you tomorrow with a Fathers' Day card.

Cheers, Sue