Are you looking for some ideas for Christmas cards, festive decorations and pretty packaging?

It is all here in our new Holiday Catalogue. 

Browse online here:  Holiday Catalogue Online

Download the PDF here:  Download 20130829_Holiday_en-SP

Or phone/email if you'd like me to post you a free copy. 

Always so much better flicking through the actual paper version isn't it.

Local ladies - give a buzz and drop by if you're passing and would like to pick up your copy or I can pop one in the post.

My number one favourite thing so far from this catalogue are these - so gorgeous and sparkly.

They're called Frosted Finishes Embellishments and they're beautiful.  (Browse or buy online here: Frosted Finishes.  Or phone/email to place an order.)

You can browse through all the Christmas products in the Holiday Catalogue here: The Christmas Range

(Hint - I change the tab near the top to Show All so I can scroll down easily on just one page.)

So are you a 'get ready in August' sort of Christmas person, or a 'mad rush in December' person.  Every year I hope I'm going to get going early and every year I'm rushing about in December.  I'll be holding Christmas card classes in September (dates coming soon) if you'd like to get a bit of a start. 

Cheers, Sue

Specials Update:

Hurry last days. 

The DSP special  - buy 3, get 1 free - on regular DSP packs ends tomorrow. 

Finishes August 31st

During September we have a butterfly special.  Buy Papillon Potpourri stamp set and the Bitty Butterfly Punch and get 15% off the bundle. 

Here's one of the cards we've been making this month at my card making classes (in Melbourne's west.  Space left tonight if you'd like to join us - phone, email, txt to book your spot.) 

(Inspired by this Kimberley Van Diepen card - third one down)

Tried out my new Alphabet Press embossing folder - comes up well in the black I think. 

We've layered up some strips of Modern Medley DSP, some lace tape (self adhesive - very handy!) and half a paper doily. Plus a scrap of the yummy Cherry Cobbler Chevron Ribbon. 

This month we're featuring product bundles at class. This one uses Chalk Talk stamp set and framelits. 

Before I sign off for today I thought I'd show you another creative effort for this week - Jack's Book Week 2013 costume.  He's been enjoying the Fly Guy books lately so we thought we'd go with that. 

Here's the cover that was our inspiration .....

And here's my Fly Guy. 

I used a Stampin' Up box for the body, some bonboniere bags for the wings, a plastic tablecloth with a hole cut in it for the background, a big pair of costume sunnies with two sieves (handles removed) for the fly eyes, and tape/staples/string to hold it all together.   We were pretty chuffed with the results.  And all nice and easy to take off after the parade. 

See you again soon - I've been photographing a bunch of projects so will have more to share very soon. 

Cheers, Sue

************************************************************************************************

Browsing or shopping?  Here's some links to products featured in today's card.

Alphabet Press Embossing Folder.  Find it on page 191 or right here. 

Chalk Talk Stamp Set and Framelits Bundle.  Find it on page 12 and 187 or right here in clear and here in wood mount

Delicate Details Lace Tape.  Find it on page 171 or right here. 

Tea Lace Paper Doilies.  $4.95 for 24 - perfect sized for craft projects.  Find them on page 156 or right here.

Two options for ordering - choose what suits you best

Shop online from anywhere in Australia - click here to visit my online store.

Or phone/email your order through and I'd be happy to help. 

About time for a card I think.   This one is my Grand Vacation swap.  I made 21 of these - one for Stampin' Up to keep and 20 for the swap. 

The card features Smoky Slate, Basic Black, Blushing Bride and Shimmery White cardstock. 

Products: The background is done with Gorgeous Grunge stamped in Blushing Bride and Off The Grid stamped in Versamark and embossed with a mixture of the new Smoky Slate embossing powder and some Dazzling Diamonds for added sparkle.  Plus Swallowtail stamped in Stazon Black and coated with lashings of Crystal Effects.  (Leave overnight to dry - don't be tempted to check earlier or you'll get fingerprints.  Ask me how I know!)  Some of the new chevron ribbon in Smoky Slate to finish.

Can you see the glossy finish on the butterfly?  Here's another view.

I handed in my pack of swaps on the first night at St Regis, and a couple of days later got my pack of swaps back with 20 gorgeous creations from some of my fellow demonstrators.  It was fun looking through them all.  Here's a peek.

See you soon with some more creations.

Cheers, Sue

********

Products Featured

Click here to browse or buy online:  Off The Grid Stamp Set

Click here to browse or buy online:  Gorgeous Grunge Clear Mount    Gorgeous Grunge Wood Mount

Click here to browse or shop online:   Smoky Slate Embossing Powder

Or place an order by phone or email if you'd prefer:  Contact Details

One last non stamping post before we get back to some cards.  We've been seeing a lovely transformation in our yard over the last month or so.  Thought you might like to see some before and after pics.

Before:

During:

After:

Before:

During:

After:

Before:

During (from other direction):

After:  We're going to plant some fruit trees in this part down the track a little.

Before:

During:

After:

We are so rapt with the results and have been having a ball having some outdoor time.  The kids are enjoying playing downball on our big paved circle.  We've just added a trampoline in to the bottom part and that is a hit.  Nice to be spending more time outside now that it is not a giant ugly weed patch. 

Here's some links to the great people who created this space for us. 

Landscape Designer: Darrell Mcleod               

Website:  Landscapes By Design

We first met with Darrell about 6 years ago.  We had a blank slate, a fairly difficult block (sloping, tricky access) and not much in the way of gardening skills.  We wanted a really low maintenance, very hardy, drought tolerant garden with some space included for the kids to play in that could be used in other ways down the track. 

After some site visits and meetings, he drew up our plans and we were rapt with what he designed.  Darrell was terrific to work with and I'd highly recommend him if you're in Melbourne and looking for a landscape designer.

Fast forward 5 or 6 years while we got the back retaining wall boundary sorted as well as some fencing and water tanks and did some saving.   We met with Darrell again recently to fine tune the plans then we were all set to get things moving. 

Landscape Construction: Scott Bartho

Website: Landscape Shape and Form

We met with Scott from Landscape Shape and Form (recommended by Darrell) to organise a quote.

Scott was terrific - provided a really detailed quote and met with us to tweak things a bit to get the project within our budget. 

Scott and James arrived shortly after to commence the work.  This coincided with the school holidays and kept the kids and I fascinated watching it all take shape out the window.  

We've got a bit of a tricky block with a narrow frontage and wider towards the back.  Access looked really difficult.  We were really impressed with how the project progressed and Scott kept us informed along the way of timelines etc. Scott and his team are thoroughly professional, friendly and great to have on site.

We were away on our trip for the last week, and came home to find our transformed space.  We're delighted with the results and would highly recommend Scott and his team if you're in Melbourne and are after a landscaper.

Resuming normal programming tomorrow

Looking for card ideas?  I'll be back tomorrow with my Incentive Trip swap card.

Cheers, Sue

Ok now this really is the last one - promise. 

Took some more photos around the resort lobby area so I can remember how gorgeous it was.

The giant pile of parcels.  Stampin' Up provided a box to each demonstrator to mail some goodies home, especially handy for those people extending their trip and travelling on.

We had a later transfer time so we got checked out, stored our bags and took the free shuttle into nearby Park City.  I really wanted to go on one of those ski lifts and this was our last chance.  Glad we did it straight away as it took 25 minutes - we picked a loooooong one.

Eek - high!

Still time to go exploring in ....

This gallery had stunning photos.

One last photo with a friend - Kathryn - then it was time to start journeying home again.

Qantas A380 - not much leg room for John but I did like the sky cam.  Nice seeing the flight info too and seeing us get closer and closer to home.  Feeling a bit homesick for my kids now.

And my favourite photo ....

A huge huge thank you to Stampin' Up for organising such a memorable, wonderful trip.  What a generous, warm, friendly company - I'm really thrilled to be part of the Stampin' Up family.  Very very grateful to Stampin' Up, to all my lovely customers, class regulars and Think Ink team members who helped me earn the trip, and to my parents and sisters for helping out by keeping the kids safe and happy while we were away.  Thanks everyone!!! 

Got my eye on Hawaii 2015 now.  Anyone want to come?  Click here - wink!

I hope you've enjoyed my Grand Vacation Utah recap series.  Back very soon with some new catalogue creations. 

Cheers, Sue

OK time to finish off this recap series I think for the 25th anniversary Stampin' Up Grand Vacation to Utah.

Very nice to have a little sleep in today after our action packed last few days.  We divided up today - John and my friend Kathryn's husband Tony got energetic and hired mountain bikes.  They took the chairlift/ski lift up the mountain and rode down.  Got some great pics too but they're still on John's phone so will have to come back and slot a couple in later. 

I opted for one last trip to the outlets to pick up some presents for the kids, hmmm and perhaps another outfit or two for me.   Here's a view from the shuttle bus - the ski runs look amazing.  This would be a fabulous winter destination too.

Had fun taking a peek into a huge Michael's craft store.  Decided that between the loads of gifts from Stampin' Up and the pile resulting from my couple of ventures to the shops - it was time for a new ......

Back to St Regis (with my suitcase on my lap - ha ha).

Time to meet up with John again for some relaxing by the pool and we tried out the famous St Regis Bloody Marys.  Mmmm.

This is the life. 

Soon enough it was time to go and get ready for our final night dinner at a mystery location.

About half an hour or so in the bus and we arrived at .....

Red Cliff Ranch - we had such a fun evening.

Drinks and nibblies first ....

And some team pics.  Love these girls.  How grateful I am to have shared this trip with some great friends.

Explored the ranch a little ....

Spied this - Stampin' Up really know how to put the special into special events!

Time to gather in the stables for dinner.  I was in photography heaven ....

Thanks Claire for this pic ....

Dinner was a delicious buffet featuring lots of local produce. 

Dinner and great company then time to venture outside again for more fun.

There was a fabulous country band and some dancers to entertain and lead us later in some moves to work off our dessert!

So what was dessert??  For us it was an introduction to s'mores.  

You take one of those slabs of marshmallow and toast it over the fire.  Then sit it on a cracker, top with a slab of chocolate and add a dollop of caramel and a sprinkle of salt.  Top with the other cracker and enjoy ....

Oops bit sunny there! Was so full afterwards I couldn't fit in one of these .....

Sun went down, fairy lights came up and we all enjoyed the music, dancing and talking over fires. 

Thanks Genna for this one.  Hmm I think I'm going a different direction to everyone else - ha ha.  Was heaps of fun.

Back on the bus and back to St Regis after a wonderful evening.

And another beautiful pillow gift from Stampin' Up.  This time it was a beautiful hard cover book of Utah photographs.  And look inside ......

Last day tomorrow then we head home to our munchkins who have been having a marvellous time with their cousins.

One more instalment then we're all done and dusted folks and I'll have some creations to share.

Thanks,  Sue

Ready for the next instalment of our virtual Grand Vacation?   This one gets off to a very early start .....

About 200 bleary eyed demonstrators and guests got onto our 4 buses and headed to Salt Lake City Airport to catch our plane.

Stunning Utah scenery out the window.

Arrived at St George and it was time for another bus convoy to take us to Kanab, a bit under two hours away.

Once again stunning scenery out of the windows so the trip went by quickly. 

Soon we arrived at the Kanab Stampin' Up manufacturing plant.  Once again a warm, friendly welcome from all the staff. 

BBQs were all fired up ready for our lunch ....

Again some lovely little decorative touches at the tables.

After a yummy lunch it was time to divide into groups and meet our assigned staff member for a tour of the facility.  We had a great tour guide.

Look at all that rubber - on rolls ready to get made into stamps. 

But first up let's look at ink pads. Apologies in advance for any errors in my manufacturing plant explanations - I loved the tour but don't quite trust my memory of the details! But you'll get the general idea.  I've always loved factory tours - interesting seeing how things get put together.

Ok first up this lady is putting the ink pad containers together and gluing in a plastic insert.

Weighted down to adhere well .....

Meanwhile the inky pads were getting prepared - look at that lovely ink.  

A bunch of pads were put into things that looked like giant mixmasters with a measured amount of ink then mixed together.

Then out they came ......

Meanwhile our ink pad containers are getting dressed in their labels ...

Now this job really does need gloves - sticking the inky pad into the ink pad container and she gives it a press with a pressy thing.  (Wink - I'm very technical, can you tell.  Ha ha.)

Finally a trip through the plastic wrap machine and all ready to be packed in boxes.  (We got to choose an ink pad each - the first of many many goodies we collected during our tour.)

Reinker time - someone uses a gun/hose thingy to fill each little bottle.

All these processes were way more hands on than I thought.  I think I love my stamps and inks even more seeing how many lovely, friendly people are employed putting them together.

See this big giant tub - full of Stampin' Mist!   Now that'd clean a lot of stamps.  It is about waist high!

Time to keep moving on our tour. Look at all these stamp set labels.

Wood blocks in all those containers - heaps of different sizes.

Time for stamps.  We started halfway through the process but I might try to sort through the pics and go from the beginning. 

I think it starts about here where this guy is cutting the roll of rubber into the appropriate sizing for the set they're making that session.

This room has the special plates too for each stamp set - more on that later.

 Let's zip over to another room for a tic to see how they make those plates.

This guy was great. 

Now I'm really rusty on this bit but it goes something like this.  They send the art work somewhere (New York I think) and get a special metal plate made.  This one is the World Map stamp one.

Then they put this sheet of - hmmm - some other material on the plate and use heat and pressure to press them together and make the plate used with the rubber.

These ones are used to make the stamps and last a varying amount of time.  They can use the metal plate to make new ones when needed.

Over to this area where they put those special plates together with the sheet of rubber and apply heat and pressure with this machine to produce our lovely rubber stamps.

Out and time to be trimmed.  We got to have a go.  Had to wear gloves as the rubber is really hot still during this bit.

Excited much?!  I'm rather chuffed here to be helping to make a stamp set.

Cooling on the air vents.  Aaah a nice Chalk Talk set.

Offcuts go into a special bin.

From there they get chopped up into little teeny bits and we'll find out a bit more about where they go after that later on today.

OK where were we at with our stamps.  Next up (if I've got all this in the right order) is the station where they get die cut.  Here's the special plate that cuts Mosaic Madness into its individual stamps.

Positioned carefully and the rubber placed on top.

And voila - stamps set to pack into cases.

Here they are getting packed into cases - with some help from us!

And more gifts - we got to choose a stamp set each from the big stack at the end of this part of the tour.  This is a fun tour!

Over to the cardstock chopping area now.  Here's some big sheets of cardstock getting chopped to size.  Now this slicer has some serious grunt - chops a huge big stack quite a few inches high.  To make it chop you have to press two buttons, which means you have to use two hands, which means there's no fingers getting caught .....

Then over to the 'counting out the cardstock' machine. 

Or you can load up different colours at each station there to make the colour family multipacks.

Through the plastic wrap machine and a label on then into the box.

And yep we got to choose a pack each.  Backpack is getting heavy now - yay!

 And that's the end of our fabulous tour.  On our way out we got to choose a memento off this board.  They were all those special metal bits that they use to make the plates used to make the stamps.  What a great gift - I really love this little part of the stamp making process and lovely reminder of a great day.

Bye bye Kanab .....

One more stop before we headed to the airport. I got a bit distracted with this gorgeous cliff ....

Now this was really funny.  4 big huge buses pulled up at this park area.  A whole stream of people got out and ran over to the playground to check out what happens to some of that leftover rubber, bounced on the soft fall, played on the equipment, took photos of all the rubber, then all got back onto the buses and zoomed off again.  Must have been a hilarious sight to the people at the park! 

Bus ride back to the airport complete with Bingo Game and LOTS more prizes.  I'm thinking I'll need a wheelbarrow to get all my products up to my room!  

Soon enough it was time to get back onto the plane.  Bit of a story there.  This was the biggest plane that had ever landed at this (fairly new) airport.  Which was exciting and even made the news.  But when we were all set to get going they found that the plane computer wasn't talking to the airport computer.  So we sat on the tarmac for nearly an hour in rather a hot plane with no air con.  Phew!  Steamy. 

A nice big cheer once the technology started cooperating .....

Home again in the evening quite ready to hit the hay after a long, but absolutely fabulous day.  The factory tour was another highlight of the trip for me.

And a gift - some products from our upcoming holiday catalogue so will have to keep them under wraps for now!

We're nearly there folks.  Just a couple of days to go and they're a little less photo heavy.  Hope you've enjoyed our little tour today taking a closer look at how our products are made. 

Catch you again soon to wrap this thing up!

Cheers, Sue

Ready for the next instalment of Grand Vacation 2013?  We'll return to regular programming soon!

Today was a real trip highlight - a visit to the Stampin' Up Head Office in Riverton.  We saw a video of this place a few years ago at a convention and it was quite a surreal feeling to actually be there.

4 buses took us there - John picked this one.  Can you guess why?

More great Utah scenery out the bus window.

Soon we were pulling in to the head office.  Great sight.

All the staff lined the entryway and gave us a huge cheer as we entered. 

Time for some pics near the gorgeous lobby.

This is me not quite believing I am actually here.

Team pic -Kathryn, Kylie, moi, Genna and Claire. 

Time to gather in our nationality groups.  Here's the Aussie trip achievers.

OK now who wants to go for a tour ......

Loved our tour round the head office. 

Lots of goals and vision statements and John commented that it seemed a company that really lived this stuff - not just put it up on display and forgot about it. 

Clocks for times in the different countries Stampin' Up is active in.

Lots of decorative bits on desks and around and about.

I'm a bit of a geek so quite liked this little technology history collection.

These designers showed us a little of how they work on stamp development. 

I told this lady that lots of my customers loved her vintage looking ferris wheel stamp.  What a cool job. 

DSP before it makes its way into our packs.

Colours colours colours.

Mmmmmmm.  All that yummy cardstock, and the drawers were full of stamps. 

My favourite bit by far was the legacy rooms.  This had a bunch of areas decorated beautifully. This is probably way too many pics - hope you like them though!  I figured the next best thing to bringing you all with me was to do a bit of a 'virtual trip' here in blogland.

Look how they've done the writing with the ribbon .....

Drooling over that lovely neat gorgeous desk.  You should see mine at the moment!  Actually you can't - it is buried.  OK on to the tablescape.

Makes me want to go decorate something in my house!   Particularly liked this quote ....

How pretty is this part of the legacy rooms .....

Hannah loved the pics of that space. Next space was Christmas themed.

Loved this display case too - it showed stamp set development.

From idea/sketches ....

..... to stamp making .....

... to final product.  I think this set was in my starter kit when I first joined. 

OK enough pretties for a bit.  Time to go exploring through the picking and packing area.  This was quite fascinating too.  (Well - I did mention I'm a bit of a geek.)

Boxes make their way down that conveyor belt then zip off to the side and lights go off to show a particular product should be put in.  All quite interesting.

Next up was lunch - yum.

After lunch the guests headed off in the buses to go bowling while we demonstrators gathered in a room for a presentation.  Look what was in the room - more inspiration.

Here's a close up of a couple of the nooks there.

Time now to stop drooling and go make something.  Make and take time ......

Cute idea to do all the dots with the eraser end of a pencil dipped in ink.  This was a little set of 4 gift cards and holder made from our note cards. 

Time for a quick walk out the drive to the rock for a pic.  (Hot - high 30s.)

And a photo with the ever gorgeous Shelli

Then it was time to head off again.  Some shopping then back to St Regis for an early night before our next big day Wednesday. 

But wait - one more pic.  My pillow gift for this day - a lovely handbag. 

Did you make it to the end!!  Well done!

I'll be back soon with pics from our tour of Kanab - where our stamps get made.

Hope you enjoyed our virtual tour through a fabulous day at the Stampin' Up Head Office in Riverton.

Cheers, Sue

Home again now and a little time today to get some more of our trip photos organised for those of you wanting a bit of a peek at what we got up to on the Stampin' Up Grand Vacation to Utah.  I'll be back to normal programming later this week!

Monday's schedule was a day at our leisure.  Stampin' Up had organised a shuttle bus which ran regularly from the resort to the nearby shopping outlets.  Sounded good to me!  I'm not usually much of a shopper but I did have fun today updating the wardrobe a bit and getting some things for the kids.  Heaps of specials like 70% off the lowest marked price - nice!

We also took the chance to have a ride on the funicular down to another bus stop ......

... then had lunch in Park City.  A nice old fry up and a bowl of chilli.  They had mozzarella sticks which turned out to be deep fried cheese - only in America!!

Some more gorgeous shots from around St Regis Resort. 

We had time this afternoon for some relaxing by the pool with a book and a cocktail.  Aaaaah.

After dinner it was time for the demonstrators to head into the hospitality area for Swaps and Sweets.  We got our pack of swaps, had large cookie/icecream sandwiches for dessert and chatted.  The swaps were up on boards to have a look at too.  Fun evening.

Back up to my room to check out my gorgeous swaps ....

... and to get my gift.  This time it was some new products - always exciting! 

Next instalment will be:  Tuesday - a tour of the Stampin' Up head office.  Stay tuned! 

******

AUGUST CLASSES

Class Ladies - I've put my August cardmaking dates up on my class page.  Also an introduction to MDS class date for August for those of you wanting to learn a little more about this fabulous program. 

AUGUST SPECIALS

Check out the specials page and my What's New page for some great offers this month.  We've got a fabulous buy 3, get a 4th free on our regular Designers Series Patterned Paper Packs. 

Get in touch to book a class or for ordering/questions. 

Cheers, Sue