Convention Update 4

Just a few photos of some of the 3D items that people swapped at Convention.  Lots of interesting little boxes and packaging.  

And to finish off, a few shots of Melbourne.  
 

This was a lovely little laneway filled with interesting cafes and shops that reminded us of Diagon Alley from Harry Potter, and then we saw this oddly attired man in a top hat walking towards us, and I had to get a photo.

After all that walking, time to put my feet up

That's it, no more Convention stuff.

Convention Update 3

Really sorry, but I haven't been able to create anything lately to blog about, so thought I could show you a few more ideas we were shown at Convention.  

Outside of the main room where all these displays and boards of different ideas to create using Stampin' Up products.  

The one below are the samples shared by Donna Williams using the Blendabilities that will be available after July.  Blendabilities are new alcohol based markers for colouring.  They come in packs of three; one of the colours is an actual SU colour and the other two are different shades, either lighter or darker than the original colour which blend together perfectly.  We were fortunate enough to receive a set of these, but my colouring skills aren't that great, but I'm working on it. 

 I love those lanterns - not sure how often it would get used though.  (notice the new bling too?)

This board was the samples by Rachael Van Rij who was using new thinlit dies called Little Letters - an alphabet set with letters 1.9cm high.  Yes, it's on my wish list. 

 

And she showed us how to cut those letters out on the fold of the card

I really like the idea with the patterned paper behind the negative space of the letters.  Look out for one like that by me one day.  

Convention Update - swaps

As you know I love the owl punch and the many outfits, styles and characters it can make, so that's what I chose for swaps.  

We had a few things going on before we went away, so the swaps were a bit of a last minute thing and were CASED from two other demonstrators with a few changes.  We made bookmarks - Harry Powltter and Pocowlhontas.  

I actually just found out I spelt Pocohontas wrong - should be Pocahontas, so it's Powlcahontas.  

 I forgot to take photos after we had completely finished them (the night before convention started) but fortunately remembered before we gave them all out. 

Harry was CASED from Diane Barnes and Pocahontas from  Bronwyn Eastley.

Convention update

Last week a friend and I went to the Stampin' Up Convention.  Every year the convention is held in a different location, and this year it was held in Melbourne.  There were around 800 demonstrators and guests there, and the first day was a little overwhelming.  There were talks on ways to improve business of course, but we enjoyed the creative part more, and of course the new stamp sets given out.  Came home with quite a bundle of new goodies which you will see soon.  

A couple of photos to give you an idea of what goes on.  Some were taken on phone so not the best quality. 

Some of the many attendees with their new red convention bag

Inside the auditorium before starting - imagine the noise!

The convention opened with the singing of one of the songs from Wicked by the actress who plays Glinda the Good Witch - we were singing it for days afterwards

Some of the swaps were received - whoever wants to can bring along cards they have made especially for convention and "swap it" with others so they get to take home other demonstrators creations

The creativity begins

Awards night had Bjorn Again as their entertainment and a few of the ladies (and men) came dressed appropriately Abba style

And the best part - a new catalogue. 

 

Clockwork Mustard

This card was made recently for the birthday of one of my brother-in-law's.  A few people I know weren't too keen on this Clockworks stamp set, but I like it for lots of reasons.  I quite like the splodge and grid lines with seagulls for a little background effect and even though the clock requires three different stamps it's a good one for males.  

And it can also be used for teenagers who love the steam punk stuff. 

An oldie but a keeper

There are some stamp sets that I just can't get rid of, and Bliss is one of them.  I think the flourish and the butterfly image are beautiful and can be used on lots of different style cards.  

This time I stamped in Crumb Cake (another favourite) and complimented it with Cherry Cobbler cardstock.  Add a few more butterflies and a bit of sparkle. 

Black, white and red

Don't you think black and white cards look elegant?  I do, so what happens when you add another colour to the mix?  It turns out like this. 

Made for a friend who recently celebrated her 60th birthday.  Some people like to put big numbers all over their cards, but really, after about the age of 16, who likes to be reminded of how old they are.  I prefer to forget about the numbers and concentrate on the birthday part.  

The Happy Birthday has been "coloured in" with Glossy Accents to give it a shine, and the flowers were sprayed with shimmer for a sparkled.    

Mother's Day

Hope all you mums enjoyed your special day and your family spoilt you a little.  We had a lovely family picnic by the side of the Nepean River and took the kayaks along for a paddle.  All the kids had fun sliding down a hill on cardboard, having a paddle and catching up with their cousins too.  Very pleasant way to spend a Sunday, and beautiful weather too. 

This is the card I made for my mother-in-law.  It was photographed early in the morning, so the colour isn't quite true to shade - Wisteria Wonder.  Lots of paper piercing and an embossed white sentiment.  

 

Another sampler frame

Apologies - this was supposed to have shown up last week, but I obviously did something wrong. 

You may have guess by now that I quite enjoy doing sampler frames.  These photos are a combination of two I recently finished as gifts; one for my daughter and the other for a friend who recently had a "big" birthday.  Because I sometimes stress over which colours to use, I decided to stick with a black and white theme for both frames.  I was going to add a pop of colour, but decided not to. 

These frames are 7 x 9 inch (18 x 23 cm) and the photo size 5 x 7 inch (13 x 18 cm).  (I used the inch measurement because I can visualise better in inches - it's an age thing.)  

Stay tuned, cause I still have two more frames to fill.  If you are interested in which stamp sets were used, send me an email for more info. 

My Dad's birthday card

On Monday my father celebrated his 85th birthday.  Sadly he lives a little too far away to visit very often, so I have to get by with phone calls with him. 

For his card I chose to use the stamps from The Open Sea, my go-to set for male cards.  Cardstock used was Pool Party and Soft Suede, once again, male colours.  And even male cards can have a little bit of bling added. 

 

 

A little vintage style

I quite like the look of vintage style cards and the rich colours associated with it, so tried to recreate the look with this card.  I stamped various images onto white cardstock and then using a dauber began shading.  A little bit of effort involved, but I quite like the finish.

Male birthday card

Apologies for my absence last week.  We had a family holiday to Tea Gardens staying at The Boathouse, and I just ran out of time to post before we left.  We have had the best holiday weatherwise for a long time, beautiful sunny days with only one rainy night, overcast day and afternoon sunshine.  Spent lots of time lazing around the pool, got through 3 books and enjoyed a boat ride to Nelson Bay with dolphins frollicking through the water beside the boat on the return trip.  A perfect way to spend a holiday.  But back to reality.  

This is a card made for my nephew who is very into bike riding.  Nothing as boring as riding around roads though.  He loves the mountain bike riding, jumping from rock to rock, sliding down hills and the dangerous stuff.  

I have used a black marker to colour the bike image from Postage Due as I didn't want all the background stuff.  I would have preferred to use the front wheel, middle section and back wheel as a sort of triptych, but there was only half of the back wheel on the stamp.  

Cardstock Storage

I thought I would share with you today how I store my cardstock.  I used to store it in plastic A4 sleeves in a binder when I didn't really have that big a supply, and then graduated to a plastic storage box picked up in a junk shop as the collection grew.  The basic colours I use the most are in the front of the box; Whisper White, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Smoky Slate and Basic Black, followed by In Colours.  I group my cardstock together in colours rather than colour collections like Brights, Neutrals, etc as I just find it easier to compare colours when grouped together.   

Recently I found side opening clear folders in K Mart*, a little easier than using A4 plastic sleeves as the cardstock slips in on the side (which is at the top of the box).  These hold all my cut into sheets of cardstock so when I only need a small piece it's the first spot I go to.  Stored behind each clear folder is about 6 full sheets of cardstock  and the rest of the packet is kept in a cupboard out of sight to keep the box light and easy to use.  

And then I found Cori Cozak  had printed out a pdf of colour tabs for her storage system which uses the round tab punch.  I guess you could always use any shape punch or cut around them if you aren't lucky enough to have your own round tab punch. 

So now I can see all my colours at a glance.  And it looks pretty too.   

Everyone has their own storage system, but this one works for me.  
 
*OfficeOne 10 pack letter file from K Mart $2.00 for a pack of 10.  Bargain!