Quickest, no-fuss party bags on the planet.

Well, ok. Maybe a plain paper bag is quicker. But is it cute? No.
My oldest son turned 8 during the week and he had three mates over yesterday for a low-key party. About half an hour before the boys were to arrive I realised that I hadn't made anything special for party bags! Not to worry, with my trusty Big Shot, a stamp, a punch and some medium cello bags from Stampin' Up! and I had these whipped up in about five minutes!

The blue bag topper was made by folding a Top Note longways, and was stapled to the cello bag once treats were inside. The thank you on old olive card stock was stamped with a stamp from a set which was sold with the curly label punch last year (I think it is retired). It was punched out with the curly label punch, and stuck on with dimensionals. For the final touch, I die cut the first letter of each boy's name in real red cardstock and stuck it on the label with 2-way glue.

I literally used scraps to make these. Bless the Big Shot!

Obviously, eight year old boys don't care about how fancy the treat bag is, or I'd have decorated further. They seemed pretty pleased with them!

Week 3 Christmas Card

Couldn't think up a snappy title this week!

This is a design I CASE'd from Paula Funston, her blog is called precioso designs.
Stamps:  So Swirly Jumbo wheel, Winter Post
Ink:  Pear Pizazz, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White Craft ink
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Pear Pizazz, Cherry Cobbler
Other:  Heat & Stick powder, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Heat Tool, Diamonte Brad, Pear Pizzazz ribbon.

Quick and easy!  We tried the glittery deer with plain Versamark, but it looked better with the white craft ink under the glitter.

Next Christmas Card Stamp-A-Stack is next week.  Stay tuned!

Deceptively Simple

Week 2 of the Christmas Stamp-a-Stacks was very successful today, with my hardworking gang churning through the work to get all ten cards done before we all had to scatter in different directions to collect children from school.

This card proved to be more involved than it looks at first glance:

Stamps:  Sanded Background, Music Notes wheel, Baroque Motifs, Perfect Punches
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Rich Razzleberry, Shimmery White
Ink:  Versamark, Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Platinum Shimmer Paint
Other:  Adhesive Rhinestones, Stamp-a-Ma-Jig, 11/4 " circle punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Rich Razzleberry grosgrain, Linen Thread, Dimensionals, Sponges

The card took a little while because it involved a little more technique than you might expect.  First, there was the background:  we stamped the Crumb Cake (formerly known as Kraft) layer with the Sanded background in Versamark, which created a subtle texture.  Next we rolled the Music Notes wheel across three times, inked up with Crumb Cake ink.  I'm not entirely sure that my music notes are right way up!
Next, we sponged the edges with Crumb cake ink.  Then came the swirl from Baroque Motifs (a classic stamp set, so versatile) in Old Olive ink.  The next step was a little involved - the ghosting technique done with the SAMJ to ensure the image was slightly offset, stamped with Platinum shimmer paint applied directly to the rubber with a dauber.  Then came the Rich Razzleberry flowers, the Rich Razzleberry ribbon and tag, attached with linen thread.  Oh, and see the white part on the tag?  Shimmer White cardstock (YAY!).  It is lovely in real life.  For a final touch, we added bling in the form of diamontes.

I hadn't realised when I made my sample, that the shimmer paint was VERY messy to work with when you make this card in bulk.  Oops, sorry girls!

For a one layer card, this has a lot of texture and interest, built up with the layers of collage and the "ghosting" effect.  It is also a perfect example of how you can make non-Christmas stamps and non-traditional colours (step away from Green and Red sometimes!) really work for you in a Christmas Card.

I'll show you the second card we did, a little later.

Dressing Up Christmas Promotion!

Ho, Ho Ho!  Just as I'm starting to prepare for Christmas, Stampin' Up! brings out this promotion - it's as though they read my blog!  Hahaha.

The promotion runs from 16th October to 30th November.  You can earn FREE ribbon two ways:  either you purchase one of four bundles (details below), or you host a workshop worth $550.

Here are the details:

And can you believe it - the ribbon I used in the Top Note Card in my last post is one of the FREE spools you can earn!  How is that for serendipity?

Here is the lovely brochure:

Who doesn't want to dress up Christmas with all these gorgeous co-ordinating products?  It takes the thinking out, which is a time-saver when you are mass-producing things at Christmas Time.  Do your kids like to give a little present to their classmates?  To the Team?  Coach? Teacher? Dog Wash Lady?

It can add up quickly.  Especially if you have four children in more than one activity!  Ok, maybe that is just me!  

Here is a closer look at the samples, too:

Stamps:  Welcome Christmas*
Paper:  Whisper White Cardstock, Real Red textured cardstock, Christmas Cocoa Speciality DSP*
Ink: Soft Suede, Versamark
Other:  Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder, Real Red 3/4" Polka Dot grosgrain (reversed), Basic Pearls, Mat Pack, Paper-Piercing Tool
*From the Welcome Christmas Bundle

Stamps:  Delightful Decorations*
Paper:  Whisper White Cardstock, Soft Suede Textured Cardstock
Ink:  Daffodil Delight, Old Olive
Other:  Mistletoe Ribbon Originals*, Linen Thread, Basic Rhinestone Jewels, Stampin' Dimensionals, Ornament Punch*, 1/16" Circle Punch, 3/4" circle Punch
* From the Delightful Decorations Bundle

Stamps:  Gifted*
Paper:  Very Vanilla Card Stock, Jolly Holliday DSP*
Ink:  Old Olive Stampin' Write  Marker, Real Red Stampin' Write Marker, Soft Suede Stampin' Write Marker
Other:  Sleigh Bells Ribbon*, Clips Assortment, Stampin' Dimensionals, Big Shot, Fancy Favor Bigz Die
* From the Gifted Bundle

Twelve weeks of Christmas - card 2

Stamps:  Winter Post; Ink:  Crumb cake, Sahara Sand, Riding Hood Red, Early Espresso
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Riding Hood Red, Other:  Big Shot, Top Note Die, Sponge dauber, Riding Hood Red/Very Vanilla striped ribbon (retired), Crop -a- Dile

This is the second card we made at the Christmas Stamp-a-Stack last week.

The colour in this photo looks a little strange, sorry about that!  The ribbon is a retired Riding Hood Red/Very Vanilla that was in a Mini last Christmas, I think, that I was trying to use up.  There is, fortunately, more lovely ribbon like it in the current catalogue!

There is supposed to be a class this week according to my calendar on the right - but I'm just going to focus on the fortnightly Christmas Stamp-A-Stack this month!

Next Stamp-A-Stack is on next week - 21st I think.  I'm thinking of running a night time one next Friday night too, if anyone is interested?

The Twelve Weeks of Christmas

Christmas always sneaks up on me, despite being the same date every year! The last term at school, 6 weeks of family birthdays, end of year concerts, Christmas parties, etc all conspire against me and before I know it, the festive season is upon me.

So today some lovely ladies and I started making Christmas cards, so that at least that part is under control.

Here is the first card:

Stamps:  Contempo Christmas, Music Notes Wheel
Ink:  Early Espresso, Real Red, Old Olive
Paper:  Old Olive, Whisper White
Other:  Real Red grosgrain ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Sticky Strip, Ornament Punch, sponge

I'm fairly certain I CASEd this design from a clever person on Splitcoast, but I can't remember who.  I'll try to come back to edit with the relevant details so credit can go to the artist who deserves it!

Back with the edit!  I found my inspiration by swheet (her blog is called Inkwood Designs) but I changed the colours, ribbon and glitter.

petite cargo

My gorgeous cousin Anna and her friends have a business venture called petite cargo, which sells fabulous homewares, gifts, etc.  Her business has a pop-up shop for 3 days only, just in time for some Christmas shopping!  Alas, I've been away and forgot to post about this opportunity before I left - the shop has only one day left!

It is on today (last day!), Saturday 2nd October from 9:00am to 3:00pm at Auchenflower, Brisbane.

Please contact Anna on ph:  0400 210 079 for the address (I didn't feel comfortable putting it on the www as it is a private residence), or send me an email and I'll give you the heads up!

Happy Anniversary honey!

My honey and I were married 11 years ago today. Eleven years, 3 houses, 4 children, and 5 job changes.

Here is the card I made him (apologies for the terrible iPhone photo):

It uses a TopNote die embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder.  Using a brayer, I inked over the debossed side in Pear Pizazz ( I have a few of these Top Notes leftover from making Regionals swaps). The sentiment is from a Hostess set Occasional Quotes, and the butterflies are made with the Embosslit Die. I have been using them on everything lately!


Happy Anniversary to us!