August Card Class

Today was Card Class day at my house and six of us met to have some fun, craft awhile, celebrate a birthday and eat goodies! Lol! We made a Flower Pot note card to send to people who needed cheering up :) or just would appreciate a special little message hidden in a card. It was a lot of fun seeing how these turned out differently as each person treated the flowers a little differently and each of us had slightly different pieces of designer series paper, all from the new Stampin' Up! Flirtatious paper pack. We made the flowers using the Blossom Party Big Shot dies and we even made our own buttons so they would match in with the flowers.

I love holding Card Classes with my crafty friends :)

Birthday Flowers

There are sooo many new stamp sets I have on my Wish List from the new Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalogue, but Printed Petals is still fun to play with :) And it's continuing to be available in the new catty too! I decided to go with it to make a pretty birthday card.

I used thumping (with Rich Razzleberry, Daffodil Deligt and Melon Mambo) and spritzing with Frost White shimmer paint diluted in isopropyl alcohol to make the stamped images for the flowers on Whisper White cardstock, stamping two images with the same thump-inked stamp. Didn't they turn out pretty?

Then I punched out some flower centres from Rich Razzleberry and Melon Mambo cardstock and popped them up with Stampin' Dimensionals before finishing off with a Rhinestone.

I made the leaves with some folded Old Olive cardstock and my crimper, free cutting the leaf shapes out after crimping them.

The background is stamped with a Baroque Motif flourish in Soft Suede, and the sentiment is from the Bring on the Cake stamp set stamped on Very Vanilla cardstock and punched out using the Word Window punch.

I hope you enjoy seeing the card :)

'Instant Date' Birthday Box Card

What do you get a friend who has everything except time to go out with his wife? Why, a date in a box, of course!

I was playing with some of the new goodies I got in my advance order from the new Stampin' Up! Ideas Book and Catalogue when I thought of this idea. My own husband had just taken me to the movies and I remembered how much we treasure those times alone together. While we were buying our own tickets, I bought some for our friends. Then after the movie I found a double block of fruit and nut chocolate to go with the tickets. I couldn't just hand him a plastic bag with these goodies inside, could I? So of course I made a box to house them :)

I used the new Pennant Parade punch and the Timeless Type Junior Alphabet Sizzlets for the name, based my box on Night of Navy and Old Olive cardstock and designer series paper (using photo corner punch to add details to the corners) and big silver brads with some linen cord to hang the pennants which I popped up with Stampin' Dimensionals. The sentiment is from a retired stamp set whose name I can't recall right now...

And when we gave it to him, Clive loved the chocolate and now he and his wife are looking forward to a break :)

Enjoy, you two!

For more project ideas return to PaperCraftCentral.com

Retirement List!

It's time for us to say goodbye to some of the products at Stampin' Up! There's a Last Chance Retirement List out that will be updated regularly as products sell out and then after August 31st they will be gone forever. A new catalogue will be available from 1st September.

Do contact me if you live in Australia and would like any of the retiring products or a new Idea Book and Catalogue :)

Thumping Great Butterflies!

I love these colours together. Blushing Bride, Crumb Cake and Whisper White cardstock were made for each other. And the beautiful Organza ribbon has become a favourite of mine. It is so soft and easy to tie into a pretty bow.

The Strength and Hope stamp set really lends itself to making delicate, pretty cards. I wanted to see if I could make the butterflies have a little more depth and character though, so for this card I used the thumping technique. I chose a couple of colours of Stampin' Write markers and, starting with the lightest colour, used the side of the thicker point on the stamp. I bounced it around the stamp on the areas I wanted to highlight. Then I used the next colour, thumping it to fill in some more spaces, and so on till I had covered the stamp.

It took me awhile to add all the colours and some of the ink looked a little dry, so I 'huffed' (breathed warm air) on it to rehydrate the colours before stamping.

So there you have it - Thumping Great Butterflies! Lol!

July Card Class

We had a great card class today :) Thank you fro coming, ladies! I enjoyed our chats, the food (the Food! So much!) and of course sharing in your crafting :)

We made two projects today. I found a paper wallet online and made one up for the ladies to try, then found a lovely thank you card that I CASED from Wendy Hawkinson's blog (thank you for sharing, Wendy). I'll post some examples for you to see :)

PS: If you live in my vicinity, do remember I hold monthly card classes now. See SusanSalutations for details and to book in!

Watercolour Stamping

Have you tried watercolour stamping? Here I used some watercolour paper and Stampin' Up!'s Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set. After colouring the images with some Stampin' Write markers, I spritzed the images lightly with ordinary water before stamping as normal. The effect was lovely and soft compared to the usual crisp, clean images obtained without water.

There are a few more water colouring tips on PaperCraftCentral.com if you would like to explore a few more options :)

The other cardstock and ink are So Saffron, Bravo Burgundy and Garden Green. The ribbon is Night of Navy and the sentiment is from the Create a Cupcake stamp set also from Stampin' Up! The ferns in the background stamped in Versamark are from a retired Stampin' Up! stamp set called Organic Grace.

Children's Birthday Cards

If you have been wondering what we get up to at Card Classes, here is a sample of the parade of creatures we made last week! I showed my ladies how to make childrens birthday cards using their Scallop Circle Die and #2 Circle die with the Big Shot, and a few punches. What a fun day it was!

These little cards are just perfect fro a young child's party. They do not take long to make so you won't mind quite so much if they get ripped or crumpled, and the children do love them.

Actually we adults had a lot of fun reliving old memories of childhood and child rearing ourselves. The Muppets have been around for a long time! Lol!

If you would like to see how to make your own fun children's birthday cards, there is a tutorial on PaperCraftCentral.com for you.

Congratulations Cards

Here's a card with a little different style to the last one I posted :) While I personally love Vintage cards, sometimes I need a simple one for a man, and vintage style doesn't really make me think of masculine cards. I like to have a couple of congratulations cards on hand so I can be prepared for times when some recognition is in order!

I made this one using a stamp from Stampin' Up!'s Fun and Fast Notes. I don't know if this stamp set will be available in the next Idea Book and Catalogue coming out in September but I have liked this set from the start. The images make whipping up a quick card just so easy.

If you want more details for how I made this card, I wrote a tutorial about it on PaperCraftCentral.com for you.

Tiny White Flowers

Isn't this a pretty card? It was inspired by one made by Monica Gale and I just love it. I used the birdcage from the Nature Walk stamp set from Stampin' Up! plus the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder from the same source. The papers are Whisper White, Basic Black, Sahara Sand and Very Vanilla. I thought it was just such an elegant card I decided to teach a few friends to make some too at a card class today. Here they are:

I really think these little cards are beautiful! Well done, ladies :)

Do you like the little white flowers on the cards we made? If you have not tried making these flowers, of course there is a tutorial for you over at PaperCraftCentral.com. Enjoy!

Retreat!

Just thought I would share another cupcake card from the Brisbane Papercraft Expo stall we ran :) I like how cheery it is, being made of So Saffron cardstock and scrunched Old Olive ribbon and all. And it says 'Celebrate', which is what I just got finished doing at the Stampin' Up! Retreat held for our Independent Demonstrator team this weekend.

We stamped! We inked! We punched! We ate! We talked! We laughed! I think there were about 30 of us who stayed for the three days of the Retreat (I elected to leave half a day early to go to church) but we had a great old time while together.

In case you want to get away for a crafty break too sometime, I advertise when they will happen on SusanSalutations. I'll upload the dates for the next ones shortly. If you are within reasonable distance of Brisbane, Qld Australia, and you want to come along to a Retreat, let me know!

Motorbikes Forever!

I'll tell you a little secret. In my youth I rode a small motorbike. I had friends who had bikes and we would go for long rides, feeling free and exhilarated in the open air! So when I saw the new Motorcycle stamp in the 2011 Autumn-Winter Mini catalogue from Stampin' Up!, well, I just had to get it.

It is quite a lovely detailed stamp and when I saw it, I immediately thought of using the faux metal technique. I think I need a few more practice goes but in the end I was pretty happy with how the image turned out. I made it into a birthday card to have on hand when the next man in the family has a special day :) None of the other family women ever learned to ride a bike that I know of! Lol!

If you would like to see how to make a faux metal image, the instructions are on PaperCarftCentral for you now.

Embossing Makes Cards Pop!

The Big Shot is such a versatile machine! I love how it embosses and what you can do with the beautifully embossed cardstock. I made a series of cards with my Build a Cupcake punch and used the coordinating Create a Cupcake stamp set (both from the Stampin' Up! Autumn-Winter mini catalogue) but wanted to add a richness to the cards that only embossing and pretty ribbon can bring.

We used these cards at the Brisbane Papercraft Expo of course :) You can see the entire series at www.PaperCraftCentral.com, of course!

Scrapping an old photo

Have you ever got cold feet about an old photo and whether or not to scrap it? I have had this picture for a very long time and finally got the courage to do something with it. I was glad I did! Now it will be protected for years to come instead of floating around on my craft desk making me feel guilty :) Lol!

If you would like a little fuller explanation about how I made some of the elements in this retro layout, here's the link on PaperCraftCentral.com

Black Magic Inking Technique

Here's a way to make a dramatic impact with a stamped image, some light coloured ink on dark cardstock, and some chalks. I made this card for the display at the Brisbane Papercraft Expo

Buckle Card

The fan fold flower card shown below is actually a buckle card. I have had people asking how these cards can be made and to help you, I have made a tutorial about these cards that is now available on PaperCraftCentral.com

If you have been making these cards for a long time, I would love to see your version of them. Blogger does not allow you to upload pictures in the comments section, so if you would like to upload a photo of your own work you can do so at PaperCraftCentral.com. I would love to see more cards made with this design!

Flowers from the Fan Fold

Have you ever made a fan fold flower? I found out how to make these and decided to create a buckle card with this type of flower embellishing it for a special birthday coming up. I made a tutorial about how I made them at PaperCraftCentral.com, of course! Just for you!

Hope you like it :)

Cute Puppy

I made a double layout of my cute little puppy while I was at a Scrapchat retreat last month. The pictures were just begging too be scrapped and when we were given a wonderful four photo sketch to work with, I was away!

Teddy has grown quite a bit since these pictures were taken. I'll have to update you with some newer ones soon. He's still as cute as a button :)

More about how this layout was made at PaperCraftCentral.com

An Album for Ali

I made a special album to hold a lot of cards handmade for a certain friend who has been feeling low lately. A bunch of us girls got together secretly and decided to do something to cheer her up. Each of us made a card and I collected them all to make into this little album. It contains over a dozen handmade cards and decorated envelopes from a dozen different friends! We gave it to our friend this week and yes, there were tears!

Here's the album opened up,

a pic with the cards released from their ribbon,

and a shot of the back of the album too.


If you would like to know how to make a similar album, the instructions are on PaperCraftCentral for you.

I'd love to see your version if you make one, so please do leave a link in the comments section if you do :)

Inking Techniques

I discovered a new inking technique that involves using my brayer and a couple of ink colours recently and had to have a play. I also found a way to make leaves using my paper crimper and wanted to share them with you :) If you would like more details, go to PaperCraftCentral.com to see how it was all done!

A Wedding Easel Card with a Western Theme

Have you ever been asked to make a wedding card with an unusual theme? How about this one, with its distinctly western flavour? This one also had to be a card everyone at church could sign, so I made it out of a while A4 sheet of cardstock.

If you would like to see how I thought it out and made it, there's a page on PaperCraftCentral.com that shows you all that :)

Something a little different

A friend requested that I scrap a circle journal entry for her about my favourite music. Since I love classical music, I decided to find a favourite musical piece in sheet music and make my own musical 'ribbon' from the score. I also made a border of mixed musical notes in silver pen.

I added my photo and a journaling piece backed by black and white designer paper. The addition of a few blue crystal brads and some white ribbon tied in a bow completed the pages.

All but the designer paper is from Stampin Up! supplies.

It's Almost Mother's Day!

Do you need an idea for a special card for Mother's Day? I made the one shown using an embossing technique on the heart that you may like to try. Read about how it was done on PaperCraftCentral. And do let me know if you try it out by leaving a link to your card in the comments section.

If you are celebrating Mother's Day this weekend I hope you have an enjoyable day:)

Easter Greetings

Just a little hello to you all at Easter. I'm thinking of why we celebrate Easter, why we take the time to pause on Good Friday to remember the sacrifice made for us. Fewer people seem to know the true meaning of Easter. I hope with all my heart that you do.

May your Easter be a time of remembrance and thanks.

And if you are looking for a way to tell children about the Easter story, why not do it while making Resurrection cookies? They sound so good :)

A Paper Punch Bunny for you

Here's a cute little paper punch bunny I can show you how to make on this video. You can also find a full product list on papercraftcentral.com

Strength and Hope Campaign

As part of our Making a Difference program, Stampin' Up! is proud to partner with The Breast Cancer Research Foundation® (BCRF) in the Strength & Hope Campaign.

From 1 April-31 July 2011, Stampin' Up! will donate $2* from the sale of each Strength & Hope Set to BCRF.

Item Description Price

123663 Strength & Hope wood-mount set $35.95

124232 Strength & Hope clear-mount set $28.95

Contact me today to order this beautiful set and support BCRF as they work find a cure for breast cancer! .

*Stampin' Up! is donating $2 from this purchase to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation®. BCRF is dedicated to preventing breast cancer and finding a cure in our lifetime by funding clinical and translational research worldwide. For more information about BCRF, visit .

New Autumn/Winter Mini Catalogue Launch!

Have a cupcake on me! Lol! You can certainly have some cupcakes on hand with some of the new stamp sets and punches on sale in the Autumn/Winter Mini catalogue that just went public in Australia. As usual, I fell in love with most of it straight away and have a nice long Wish List. Fortunately the catalogue items will be available till 31st July, so I have a chance to tick some things off my Wish List :)

If I can enable you to get some items from your own Wish List, I would be happy to help! Just click on the Mini in the right hand column of this site and contact me :)

Happy Stampin'!

Happy Birthday Easel Card

I made a birthday card for a girlfriend who lives three states away and was thrilled when a local girlfriend was able to take it with her to deliver it in person during her surprise fly-in visit!I added a large decorated paper clip to match as a little present :)

I sponged Daffodil Delight ink around the Scallop Circle die cut before stamping over it with some flourished form Baroque Motifs. Then I glued on some little flowers and put the lot through my Big Shot to emboss the die cut and the flowers together. Some bling finished it off nicely before I adhered it to my easel card front.

The inside was finished off with some Hodgepodge Hardware, some stamping, some buttons and strips of scalloped paper.

The pin was made by punching out two heart shapes, decorating them and adhering them together over the paper clip. A little bit of Concord Crush poly ribbon finished it off :)

Christmas Card for Aussie Troops Drive

Would you like to help the Aussie Troops who cannot easily access cards (let alone hand-made ones!) to send some hand made greeting cards to their loved ones this Christmas? Many of our Troops are deployed overseas where there is no local stationer's or card shop, and they really do appreciate the efforts of people who are able to send them some special greetings.

The drive officially starts in June 2011, but since you may need as much notice as possible, I thought I would let you know I will be collecting for it now. The due date for getting cards to me will probably be about 1st November, but I will confirm this when I know the date for sure.

A couple of things that would really help the processing to make it a little easier are:

1. Please put all your cards in one Snap lock lunch bag, with your name and the number of cards in the bag on the front.

2. Also, if you could please put an envelope with each card so that the soldiers can write on them to send them to their loved ones, it would be greatly appreciated.

3. If you would like the soldiers to write back please also put your address on the plastic bag, or your business cards inside each card. (Otherwise I will put c/- my address for you as I have a PO Box).

So, who will help our Troops? If you would like to help, please contact me and I will send you address details.

Thank you in advance!

Sheep

My daughter is in the film clip I have attached. She is 'The Lost'.

February Challenge

Supplies list:

Blueberry Crisp designer paper
Glossy white cardstock altered with alcohol inks and stamped with Baroque Motif images
Big Shot flowers altered with glimmer mist
Scraplet flowers altered with daubers and shimmer mist
Gems
Rubons
Old Olive circle embossed with Manhattan Flower design and sanded
Blueberry Crisp circle has been paper pierced
Whole piece edged with a Soft Suede ink pad

RSPCA Fundraiser Stamping/Scrapbooking & Crop Day

Stamping/Scrapbooking & Crop Day

Come along to raise funds for the RSPCA Flood Appeal!

Come along to a fun day of crafting! ALL proceeds from the day will be donated to the QLD RSPCA Flood Appeal to help with repairs after flood and cyclone damage and the care of pets and animals during the recent disasters.

Where and When??
Saturday March 5th 2011. Burpengary Community Hall, 111 Station Rd, Burpengary Qld.

What can you do?
There are three options you can choose from for the day (or come for two sessions):

1. All day Crop. You can come along and work on your own scrapbooking or craft all day, away from the chores and distraction of home! You will be provided with ample crafting space from 10am until 5pm. Cost is $10 and includes morning and afternoon tea, as well as lucky door prizes!

2. Morning Session – Stamp A Stack

Come along and make 15 cards (3 each of 5 different designs) covering a variety of
occasions! You’ll have a fun morning making fantastic cards to have on hand when you need them!

Cost is $25 and includes morning tea and all the supplies and instructions to make the 15 cards, matching envelopes and lucky door prizes!

3. Afternoon Session - Play Date Class

Come along to our “Play Date” Class and make a beautiful set using the “Play Date” rub ons. You’ll make a variety of items including a decorated note pad, gift box, card and
more!

Cost is $20 including all supplies as well as two sheets of the rub ons to keep, afternoon tea and lucky door prizes!

Raffle tickets will also be available on the day to win HUGE prizes of scrapbooking and stamping supplies.

Bookings are ESSENTIAL by Monday the 21st of February 2011. For more information or to book your place, please contact me with your email address :)

Favourite Childhood Story

Do you swap entries for Circle Journals? I have been enjoying this variety f scrapbooking lately. Here is a double layout I did of my favourite childhood story, retold. It's all about puppies and kittens!

I have more images to show you of the secret tags and verses I included, and showing what is behind the tied together doors, so I will provide a link to those soon for you on papercraftcentral.com :)

A Tiny, Cheery Hello

Thank you for all the lovely comments and support you have been leaving for me over the last few weeks. We still have a long road to recovery ahead of us in all Cyclone affected areas. My daughter has had her electricity restored now and my mother and sister are still managing on generators and no phones. But they are all alright. and that is what matters most.

I promised you some crafting now the worst of the storm is passed, so today, here is a cheery little card to say hello. It really is a little card measuring about 5cm x 5cm (2 1/s" x 2 1/2"). These little cards are great to pop in with something you are sending on to someone, almost like a gift card.

I used several different Stampin' Up! sets to make this one. Let's see - there is a background from Tiny Tags, a bird from the Sweetheart set, and a sentiment from Basic Phrases. I used Tangerine Tango, Old Olive and Not Quite Navy ink, a scallop oval punched from Blueberry Crisp designer paper and a base of Very Vanilla cardstock, and Whisper White cardstock for the greeting. There's a tiny pearl on the bird's eye. I popped up the sentiment with Stampin' Dimensionals too.

I hope you enjoy my cheery hello :)

Thank you for your concern

Thank you for your concern about our family. I now live well to the south of where the Cyclone crossed the coast but as I have lived all over the State and worked in the communities affected and still have family and friends scattered throughout Queensland, it was a time of tension and I kept a vigil while the storm raged. I kept in touch with my daughter on Facebook until the storm cut their power supplies. A few hours later I was able to contact my mother, sister and daughter on mobile phone to find out they were safe, and while their power is still cut and their mobile phone batteries have died, I know they are alright. Sleep is still a little elusive while I wait for good communication to be re-established with them all.

The pictures I have published today show what happened at Cardwell, a small seaside town I have driven through countless times. The picture of the road shows a blank space where a garage and cafe used to be. I used to stop to refuel the car and my tummy there. Their marina is a disaster area and so many of their homes have been destroyed. This is what it looks like for several hundred kilometers of coastline where the Cyclone struck so you can imagine my concern for family and friends. The Cyclone was so huge it was never going to miss out hitting some communities in the far north. Thankfully it avoided directly hitting major population centres but the destructive winds were so widespread they shared themselves around and now the people in the area are experiencing storm surges and floods.

The storm was huge. That is why so many people are being affected. The image below is taken from a page about comparing the storm size a few countries.

Thankfully the Cyclone has degenerated into a rain depression now but it is still dumping rain all the way across to the Northern Territory.

I think I will have to get some of these pictures printed out so I can do a layout on the Cyclone sometime soon. It sure has affected our lives.

OK now I plan to return to showing you cards and scrapbook layouts and 3d paper crafts, from tomorrow. As long as there are no more disasters!

My family and friends are OK!

Just a quick update to let you know the Category 5 Cyclone crossed the Queensland Coast at midnight last night. It did not appear to take any lives or injure anyone as people were so prepared. There is a fair bit of property damage to the small towns where the cyclone hit. I have heard from my family and all of them are fine. There is no power to their homes but they are ready fro that too.

The cyclone is continuing to track inland as a Category 2 at this stage so it is a much smaller threat now :)

I am thankful to God for sparing people's lives.

Thank you for praying with me, those of you who prayed, and for your messages of concern and support.