Christmas is well and truly over for another year but I thought I'd share this gift idea anyway as it might be a handy one for some other occasion.  I'd seen lots of  'Gift In A Jar' ideas on Pinterest so when these gorgeous jars popped up on Pack It In  I decided to grab a bunch. 

I filled them with nuts for some and hot chocolate mix for others.  Here's some step by step pics.

Lids on and time to gather up some fabric.  I've used a whole bunch of different Stampin' Up fabrics and coordinating ribbons. (Tip: It helps to secure the fabric with a rubber band, then it is much easier to tie the ribbon around.)





 

Bit of a milestone moment for me as that's the first thing I've actually MADE after pinning it on Pinterest.  I thought they looked quite cute once we were finished.  And I had a spare to try out at home.  Tasted nice too! 

Speaking of cuppas, some of the girls from my Think Ink team came over late last week to share a cuppa and have a play with some of the new products about to be released.  Just got to take some pics then I'll have some sneak peeks to share.

DROP IN DAY: Thursday Jan 24th

If you'd like to come and see some samples in person and have a cuppa and chat stamping or holidays or weather - I'm holding a very casual, DROP IN DAY on Thursday 24th January.  I'll be here between 10 and 5, and between 7 and 9 if any of my local ladies would like to call in, grab their new catalogues, see some samples and perhaps even make a quick and simple tag. 

No charge of course and I'll have a lucky dip on the day for people placing Saleabration orders. 

RSVP if you can make it or if you need more details.

Cheers, Sue

It is that time of year again - the annual Think Ink Team Awards where my team celebrates another Stampin' Up year of fun and craft and creating.  Thought I'd share some pics.

I've been enjoying making these cards - saw this idea here  for the lovely background.  I've used Shimmery White cardstock and glued 2 strips punched with the lace ribbon border punch.  Creates a nice embossed look.  Some score lines with the Simply Scored.   Apothecary Art for the floral panel on watercolour paper. Regal Rose, So Saffron and Old Olive for my watercolouring.

Here's some of our 2012 Think Ink Team Awards prizes and certificates. 

(The role of Tina's die box is being played by Sue's die box for the pic - ha ha!)

Congratulations to Kylie, Tina and Rachel for their sales awards, and again to Kylie for her recruiting award, and to Judy - this year's Think Ink rising star award recipient.  Well done ladies!   And congrats to everyone in the crew for another fun year of getting inky.

I CASEd this Constantly Stamping card  to make this one using Bordering On Romance stamp set .....

That test tube used to hold jelly beans.  I washed and kept the tubes after we polished off the jelly beans as they looked so cute.  Actually I bought them especially to repurpose.  Have you ever bought something just for the cute container? 

Have a fabulous weekend. 

Cheers, Sue

I'm having the most lovely craft weekend here.  Yesterday my mum, sisters, Hannah and I all gathered for a craft day.  We did a spot of shopping, had lunch then set to work on our projects.  Here's a peek ...

My sister got some lovely bright card, photos of her boys and her laminator and made them a little book they could read about some of their recent adventures.  My other sister gathered up a bunch of card kits she had in her stash and made a stack of cards, Hannah did some scrapbooking of photos off her Ipod then made us all little cards with lots of embellishments and purple glitter glue, I did my first scrapbooking layout of many this year (details below) and mum worked on her gorgeous altered manuscript project.  She's got an old old book and she opens it to a page and uses all different craft techniques to create.  Combined with some lovely quotes and poems it is such a beautiful project.  What a companionable, fun, creative day. 

I'm doing Stacy Julian's 'Twelve' class this year and am all inspired to rev up my scrapbooking again.  I spotted a fun, colourful layout from a lady called Rhonda in the class gallery and decided to give it a try.  Stacy's passion for colour has gotten me in the mood for using some nice bright happy colours.  Grabbed out my Brights Pattern Stack DSP to make this me page.

It did rather challenge me in the maths and measuring department but I was pretty impressed to get it fairly straight and even! 

I used the matching cardstock and my Big Shot Timeless Type (and much loved) Alphabet die to make the letters of my name.  They were getting a bit lost on the coloured background so I punched white squares with my new Postage Stamp punch and that did the trick. 

Then I just added embellishments from my stash that coordinated with the colours.  (You'll spot some of our lovely glimmer brads, flower brads and a few others there if you look closely.)

I'd been jotting ideas for the letters during the week.  Got stuck on a few and had to get the dictionary out for some inspiration.

Once I was done I had some offcuts of the Brights DSP strips so I grabbed out a sheet of my new favourite Shimmery White cardstock to make this quick and simple card.

My Modern Label punch is getting a great workout lately along with Short and Sweet greeting set.  A glimmer brad and some paper piercing finished it off.

This afternoon some of the girls from my team are coming over and we're all looking forward to chatting and creating with some of the SaleABration items.  Should be a lovely afternoon of card making. 

What a fun way to spend some weekend time.  (And we've still managed to squeeze in some golf and cycling time for John so we're all happy here!)

Happy Stamping!  Back soon with some SaleABration cards to share.

Cheers, Sue

Saturday night is a part of convention we all look forward to - the dinner and awards night.  We all got dolled up in our evening wear.  (I'll share a funny story with you about that at the end of this post!)

Here's some of the girls from our table - me, Tina and Toby in the back, and Christine and Judy in front.

There was a band playing ('scuse the blurry photo!)

Now if you know me you'll know I've got a strange habit of photographing the food at special events so here goes .....

I was rather missing my nice big digital SLR.  Not quite so photogenic in the food pics with my little point and shoot, but easier to fit in the handbag!  The yummy chocolate 5 on the cheesecake was because Stampin' Up is celebrating their 5th year in Australia this year.

Once our lovely dinner was finished it was time to head downstairs into the main stage area for the Awards Presentations.  It was so exciting to cheer on our fellow demonstrators for achievements in Sales, Recruiting and Leadership, and especially when my team mates names appeared on screen - Elaine, Miriam, Claire, and Tanja.

We Think Ink girls were very excited for our team member Kylie Bertucci who received her first sales award.  Kylie couldn't be there for the evening but we gave her a huge cheer which she'd just about have heard in Werribee I'm sure. 

An unanticipated fabulous highlight of the evening was this screen .....

Kylie was named 1st place in the Australian Rising Star Awards. What an achievement! 

The Rising Star program recognises demonstrators in their first FULL Stampin' Up year as a demonstrator for sales and team building.  (The SU year runs from April - end March.)  What a terrific recognition for Kylie and a lovely reward for all her enthusiasm and dedication.  A huge congrats!

Having a little toot of my own now, I was excited to be walking the stage this year with a sales award, a recruiting award and a career milestone award. 

And I must confess I was so thrilled to make the Top 25 Australian Demonstrator of the Year award again this year.  I got this silver pin when I checked in on the Thursday (along with pins for the other awards)  .....

..... so I knew then I'd made the list - then it was exciting on the evening to find out exactly where.  I'm number 15.   A huge congrats and pat on the back to the other girls on the list, and especially to a special someone who came in at number 1.  And to the 18 girls from Aust/NZ who are heading off to Fiji later this year on the Incentive Trip - well done.

We all got to go on stage and Shelli gave us each a hug and a lovely long stemmed rose.  Stampin' Up do a terrific job of making us all feel very special.   (Thank you to my friend Kathryn for some of the pics in this post - much appreciated.)

Stampin' Up give stamp sets as part of the various awards so I went home with a nice collection of goodies to add to my craft stash, and even better - a lovely lovely feeling of being recognised, appreciated and rewarded.  In my other roles that feeling is sometimes a little hard to find - they don't have 'Instilled a Love Of Reading' awards, or 'Kept Everyone Fed for a week' or 'Gives Good Snuggles' or 'Battled An Out Of Control Laundry'.    Hannah and Jack were most impressed with my certificate and think it should go up on the wall next to the Student Of The Week awards.  J

I wouldn't have received these awards without my lovely lovely team and my gorgeous customers and class girls, and most importantly my very supportive (and patient!) husband and lovely kids so a big big thanks to everyone.  What a fabulous job I have.

Before I close for today, a few other announcements were made at convention.

Next year we're heading to Canberra for Convention 2012, May 31st - June 2nd.   Put the date in your diary if you're a demonstrator.  And give a holler if all this fun has you tempted to join the crew and I'll send you some more info.  Did you know that you no longer need an ABN to join so it is now super quick and easy. 

Another memorable moment of the night -  Aaron and Emma (Aust and NZ managers) rode onto the stage on camels to let us know that next year's Incentive Trip is to Broome to the Cable Beach Resort.   Ooh sounds exciting!

Now - want to know that funny story!  I impulse bought a new dress the day I was leaving for convention as I fell in love with the funky flouncy hemline.  Ducked into DFO between sessions to get a 5 way convertible bra and while getting dolled up I was madly converting it 5 ways to see which was best (and wishing it came with a manual!)   Time was ticking so got dressed in a hurry and off we all went to the dinner.  It wasn't til I got home again that I realised I'd put the dress on backwards!   It does seem to be cut the same front and back but the nice panel of pleats was supposed to run down the front, not the back!   I did have a giggle!  What do you think - can you tell??  JJJ

And after that little laugh between us girls, now I'd best switch this computer off for a bit as my bag is still sitting here waiting for me to unpack it.   Have a wonderful week.

Cheers, Sue

Well, I'm back from a fabulous few days at the 2011 Stampin' Up Convention - close to home this year in Melbourne.  What a wonderful event!

Yesterday I caught up on some family time and snuggles.  Monday means school, kinder and work for John and the kids, and for me some time to unload the camera and share a little convention excitement with you.  (Probably better unpack too!) 

Better grab a cuppa  - long post alert!

The theme this year was ......

 
...... and that very nicely sums up Convention 2011 for me.

Around 450 demonstrators and guests from Australia and New Zealand shared the excitement, oohs and aahs as we saw techniques, projects, and sneak peeks at exciting things just ahead.

I loved sharing convention with 3 Think Ink girls heading along for their first one - Tina, Toby and Lyndall ......

 
(That's Tina, me and Toby.)

..... plus the most fabulous bunch of stamping buddies a girl could wish for.  (Here's a few of them.)

Plus you meet heaps of new faces too.  Everyone is so friendly that you can guarantee many smiles, laughs and chats are shared over the 3 days.

With our orange and pink convention bags - even when we wandered next door into DFO or were walking to and from our accomodation - we could easily find who was a fellow convention goer!

The staff from the US, Australia and New Zealand shared their talents during the sessions, along with some fabulous homegrown demonstrators.  Waving a hello and saying a thanks to all of them for all the wonderful projects and techniques you shared.  I think I have enough inspiration to last a LOOOOONG time.

That's the 'oh so funny, had us all in stitches' Bonnie Thurber sharing a fascinator a la Princess Beatrice at the royal wedding. 

I got this pic while the super talented Teneale Williams was setting a new record for eliciting wows from the audience!!  Every time she got ready to hold up a completed card, a sea of cameras would go up in the auditorium. 

 By the way - don't you just love the staging.  Did you spot the eyelet border and scallop trim punch bits at the sides and the huge stamps and tags and what not?  Gorgeous.  Speaking of gorgeous - here's the co founder and CEO of the company - the always gracious and positive, Shelli Gardiner.

Convention was over 3 days this year and I loved that this meant we had time between sessions or of an evening to catch up with friends and share some laughs. 

There were sessions to help us with ideas for sharing some of the creative techniques and projects at a Stampin' Up workshop or party, and sessions with ideas for sharing all the fun of becoming a member of the crew as a demonstrator.

Stampin' Up in their usual generous manner shared not only ideas for using products but some products themselves in Prize Patrol.  We all got a wrist band at check in with various different designs printed on.  When it was prize patrol time they'd flash the prize up on the screen ....

Then up would come the winning wrist band design and those who had that one would jump up and wave and holler excitedly ......

 ... until along came a smiling staff member giving out the prizes.

Tina and I were excited to win the bundle  'Clearly For You' and 'Hello Blossoms' after watching Shelli herself create a bunch of gorgeous things with them - a bookmark, box and cards.

No one went home disappointed as during the last session on Saturday they gave us ALL a Simply Sent pack, PLUS a terrific stamp set.  You probably heard the whoop whoop when they announced we were all sharing in the winning feeling!

Hmmm what else is there to tell you.  On Thursday evening those of us that are managers and above were invited to a special reception.  It was my friend Genna's first one and my second and we were both very excited.

After a session with Shelli and the Stampin' Up staff, we went in to another room for delicious nibblies.

Here's Genna, my upline Claire and me enjoying the reception.

There were gifts for us all to take home ....

That last pic is of the beautifully packaged up fortune cookies we got - except they looked so delicious I ate half a one before I remembered I wanted a photo!  The slip of paper inside reads "Share what you love."

I've still got all the excitement of our dinner and awards night to share but I'd better leave that for another post. 

I'll close off this one with a very special photo - one of the Helping Hudson team who worked together with the help of the craft community last year to raise over $15,000 for Tina's son Hudson, for a KidWalk and other aids.  (We're just missing Gardenia and Jo from the coordinating crew pic.)  How perfect to have a "Share What You Love" tag as background.   Convention reminded me that sharing what we all love can bring so many rewards - not just creative ones but friendships, common bonds and so much more.  Stampin' Up has enriched my life in ways I could never have imagined. 

Back soon,  

Cheers, Sue

Tonight to bring Convention 2011 to a close we have a special celebratory dinner followed by an awards ceremony.  It is always a highlight of the Stampin' Up Convention.  I'm rather excited to be heading up on stage this year to receive a sales award and a recruiting award - sending a big thank you to all my customers, class attendees and Think Ink team members who help make this such a fun job.

I'm super excited that one of my team members Kylie also achieved a sales award this year - congrats on all your enthusiasm and hard work Kylie.

We had a Think Ink Celebration Day a few weeks ago to celebrate another year of Stampin' Up fun.  Some of my local team members came over for the afternoon and we chatted, made cards, experimented with a few techniques and ate nibblies. 

I wish I'd taken a pic of Lyn's beautiful pink cupcakes and Sue's yummy slice!  And my lovely team members for that matter.  Oh well - here's the table all set up for us to make some cards - that will have to do!

We recognised the achievements of some very hard working Think Ink team members with our team awards.  Well done girls on all your efforts over the past year. 

It was lovely to spend some time with my 2 newest team members too, and just to chat stamping with people who love their inks!

Speaking of catching up with my fellow SU enthusiasts - I'll be back as soon as I unload my camera with some more pics and news from the Stampin' Up convention 2011. 

(Better fit in some snuggles with my little munchkins first, and say a big thanks to John for holding the fort at home while I've been away!) 

Cheers, Sue

PS Want to join the fun??  Check this page for more details or get in touch and I can send you an info pack.

I made up some little 'Convention Packs' for the girls from my Think Ink team that are heading along to convention this year.  (And for my two lovely roomies Christine  and Judy.) 

I took some step by step pics while I was putting them together so thought I'd share them with you lovely ladies in blogland.  I used the set 'Tote-ally Tess' from page 40 and decided she'd have Cherry Cobbler hair, a Pacific Point shirt and Early Espresso pants.   Plus of course her bag full of stamping gear.  (Which has been thrown all over the place, probably in a mad dash to finish swaps!!  J)

Our Paper Snips are fabulous scissors for cutting out fiddly things, and my Two Way Glue Pen and handy tweezers made dressing Tess a breeze!   I've used the little scallop trim bags from the Autumn Mini - they're rather cute!  Closed them up with the big clips from the Clips Assortment on page 139.

Inside I popped a few things that might come in handy during convention, starting with a notebook for jotting all the wonderful ideas we always get at convention, or contact details for new friends made.  Found some snazzy sparkly pens and a bunch of Big Shot butterflies  ......

Some tissues, and some nibblies (also dressed up in their Stampin' Up best with some help from Blueberry Crisp DSP and the Something Sweet stamp set.)

I'm excited to be sharing the fun of convention with some team members heading along for their first one, and it is great to catch up with a whole bunch of Stampin' Up friends, and to make new ones too. 

Back tomorrow with some pics of my swaps.  (OK with LOTS of pics of my swaps - I got a bit carried away with the camera!)

Cheers, Sue 

Hello, hello!  I'm back from Sydney and I know a bunch of you are waiting to hear some news and a little dose of Stampin' Up Convention excitement. 

I'm still unpacking and catching up on cuddles and sorting out photos, but thought I'd do a super quick few snippets, and will be back with the longer version for anyone who likes all the details.  (Ed: OK I got carried away and couldn't shut up so its a little longer than a snippet!!)

About 500 mad keen Stampin' Up demonstrators and guests from all over Australia and New Zealand headed along to Sydney for the annual SU Convention.   It was unbelievably fun to catch up with old friends, new friends, team mates, my gaggle of girls and a whole room of excited women (and a couple of men.) 

Got HEAPS of inspiring ideas for projects and ways to use products, got a few little sneak peeks at some upcoming goodies, found out about some terrific specials and generally recharged the creative batteries. 

Awards night was divine.  We all got to walk in on the red carpet with our own 'paparazzi' (the photographers dressed up in reporter gear, loved the hats!)  

The tables were set so beautifully, everyone was dolled up and looking lovely and the meal was delicious.  (And of course I'll have pics of all the courses to share soon.) 

Then it was on to the awards part of the night.  How exciting!  

Two of my Think Ink girls (Ange and Sue) received Sales Awards and it was fabulous to see their names on the screen and cheer Ange across the stage.  (Took a pic but I flunked focusing so it is a blur of colour!  Will track down a better one.) 

My team mate and buddy Kathryn received a Sales Award, and my roomie and team mate Miriam received several awards including the Rising Star (top new demonstrator for Australia.) 

Lots of clapping, my hands are still sore!!  But wait, there's more .....

There were a large crew of Art With Heart girls there so you can just imagine the thrill when Claire Daly (our upline) was announced as #1 Demonstrator of the Year.  A wonderful achievement and great recognition of lots of hard work and energy and creativity.  Claire has provided myself and other members of the team with an enormous amount of help, ideas and encouragement and it is greatly appreciated.  It was lovely that so many of us could be there to help her celebrate her wonderful evening. 

My camera wasn't up to the job but that is Claire with the rest of the Top 5 demonstrators.  Congratulations to the other girls there too, including my up up upline Angela Sargeant.

I had a little tear in my eye when Jayne Mercer was awarded the Heart Of Stampin' Up award.  She's quietly and without fanfare done such a lot of work for charities and causes such as Breast Cancer Awareness, Camp Quality and Westmead Children's Hospital, plus is a person I admire greatly. 

I had a wonderful night myself  with a few trips across the stage.  Actually I was so excited I think I skipped!  The girls told me I looked just like Hannah beaming away up there. 

Here I am still on cloud 9 with my loot - stamp sets, certificates and gorgeous long stemmed red roses.  

I received a sales award, a recruiting award, joined the Incentive Trip 2010 Earners on stage and was thrilled to find I was #15 Demonstrator of the Year for Australia.  I think I just about floated across the stage for that one!   

What it really means is that I have a fabulous bunch of creative customers and class girls, a talented extraordinary team,  a very supportive partner and family, and great support and encouragement from my fellow demonstrators.  I've found something that I just love to do that has brought such a lot of great things into my life - a creative outlet, a wonderful collection of craft supplies, rewards I couldn't have imagined such as trips and stamps and pins ....... and most importantly a whole bunch of wonderful women friends. 

What more could a girl ask for??!

That'll have to do for now.  Still catching up on these .......

Cheers and a big thanks everyone,    Sue  xxx

There are 8 of we Think Inkers (including our lovely guests) heading along to the Stampin' Up Convention this year.  Actually we are there right now having a marvellous time no doubt.  I preprogrammed my blog to show you a few things while I'm away.  (Wish I could preprogram my house to tidy itself up while I'm away, or the bod to get itself fit while I took a nap.  ☺)

This year I thought I'd make little 'Convention Emergency Kits' for my team.

I had fun putting them together.  I used some of my favourite supplies - Big Shot Top Note, Very Vintage Wheel, Vintage Vogue flowers, Rhinestone Brad, and Rich Razzleberry and Kraft cardstock.  Yum!

Here's the contents .......

Some coffee bags (in case our motels have icky coffee!), emergency snack, bandaids, tissues and a Think Ink bag tag.  We all get a convention bag and since there'll be about 500 identical bags there, a tag to attach comes in handy! Here's a closer look at the tags.

I used the accessories from the Tote-Ally Tess stamp set.  (Pg 18, Autumn Mini.)  Aren't they cute!

I'm finding the clear blocks super handy.  I attached the 'I Love Stamps' and the little flower stamp to the block together and stamped them both at the same time.  Might have only saved a minute but still - with all the things on our 'to do lists' these days, we'll take any time savers right!

Back over the next couple of days to show you the other projects that have been keeping me busy this last week or so - my swaps. 

I so love the social part of swapping - it is a great way to meet other demonstrators and a fabulous way to generate lots of oohing and aahing and excitement at the start of the first day of convention.  OK, put 500 mad keen Stampin' Up lovers into a room together and you possibly don't need any extra excitement - ☺ 

It is lovely to get such a range of great ideas back from all the swappers.  I love sitting in my hotel room in my PJs checking out all the terrific creations at the end of the day. 

Class/workshop ladies - I'll have heaps of new things to show you at our next gatherings.

See you tomorrow to share some more of my 2010 Convention swaps.

Cheers, Sue  

Today I'd like to introduce you to my newest Think Ink team member - Tina Gillespie. 

Tina is in South Australia, which means Think Ink now has members from 3 states.  Funny isn't it how small the world can seem though with blogs and forums and what not.  You can get to know someone and make connections all over Australia and the wider crafting world.  I think it is a nice part of technology.    (Now if they'd just invent a robot housekeeper life would be perfect!) 

Tina has lots of gorgeous creations on her blog:  Scissors Paper Card     I hope you get a chance to visit and leave a comment to say hello.   Those lovely comments really do help keep our blogging batteries charged up I think!  

I've really enjoyed my visits to Tina's blog and she has introduced me to some fabulous challenge sites.  I love to have a little blog hop each morning with my cuppa and always start with the talented Think Ink girls.  (You can find the full list in my team blog roll over there in the right column.)

Here's a couple of sneak peeks (with Tina's permission of course) of two of my favourites from Tina's site.  (It was very hard to pick - I love Tina's card making style.)  Click on the link below the picture to head to the full post and see the project.

I love this happy card.  The little pot of flowers looks so lovely popped up on dimensionals.

 
Tina's Flower For All Season's Card

And this one uses one of my very favourite stamp sets - Circle Circus.  Love the strong colours and the layering.

 
Tina's Circle Circus Card

A warm welcome to the team Tina.

Cheers, Sue