Nothing like leaving things to the last minute but we’re at the final day of the Summer Mini and Sale-a-bration and I just had to pop in and show you this little idea (from last November no less!) that I put together using the Aviary stamp set that is available for only another 10 hours!

Aviary was the stand out stamp set for me as soon as I saw the Summer Mini (Itty Bitty Bits carved its own spot in my heart about five minutes later) and I jumped on the opportunity to grab it during the demonstrator pre-order period in November (just one of the many perks available to you as a Stampin’ Up! demo…)

I put it to work immediately for a project I created for our A Klass Act team Christmas dinner.  About 20 of us got together at a local restaurant, exchanged handmade gifts, chatted endlessly and filled our bellies with festive fare.

For my gift (we each put one in and received one created by another team member) I created a 2011 desk calendar in a CD case, which I also created a matching outer cover for…

The inside looked like this…

The beauty of the Aviary stamp set is that with a selection of four different bird cages and four little birdies, you have an almost endless supply of different variations and ways to use them!

Below are the individual month pages – click on the thumbnails to see them in full size.

I had so much fun putting this little project together, not least because once I had formatted the months and printed the pages, it was all one layer stamping with my chosen colour combination and came together very quickly.

I haven’t been able to decide on my favourite…   I do like the little dude in the Santa hat in December, but the stack of birdies in May is also fun.  Then there’s the cheeky fella in September who’s managed to make an escape, leaving his buddy behind

Which is your favourite?

As much as it was rushed and totally last minute, I hope you’ve enjoyed the last few posts highlighting some of my favourite things about the Summer Mini.  It really has been a favourite of mine.

As a special last minute offer, if you purchase all of the products I’ve highlighted in this and the previous two posts (Aviary, Itty Bitty Bits, Punch Pack, Bitty Buttons and the Square Lattice embossing folder) I will add the following as bonuses:

• a clear CD case – the kind that open right up to stand up on a desk plus information on where you can get more
• a template and tutorial for the calendar, including a formatted 2012 calendar all ready for you to print to give you a head start on some Christmas gifts for this year
• free shipping to your door – a saving of $5.95
• AND you get to choose a Sale-a-bration stamp set of your choice as well!

The wood mount option for the above products comes to $120.75 and the clear mount* option comes to $107.75.

Contact me asap – that is in the next few hours – if you would like to take advantage of this offer and snare yourself these fabulous products while they’re still available!

Already have one or all of the products in the special offer…?  Just because it’s the last day of Sale-a-bration and Summer Mini goodness, place a $100 order of anything from the Idea Book & Catalogue or Mini today and I will send you the template and tutorial as well, PLUS waive your shipping and of course you get to choose your favourite Sale-a-bration set too

Hurry!

* Clear blocks sold separately – if you don’t have any I can hook you up with those as well

“A bunch of birdies – CD case calendar”
Stamps: Aviary
Paper: Whisper White, Crumb Cake
Ink: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Regal Rose, Pear Pizzazz, Baja Breeze, Real Red
Accessories: Pear Pizzazz Stitched Poly, Basic Rhinestones

I said earlier that I’d be back later with my workshop projects for this month, so being later, here I am!

I’m not long back from coaching at my girls’ gymnastics classes, which follows on from a 6am workout in the park, canteen duty at school, and some work in the afternoon, so if I stop making sense (you know, more so than usual) chances are my head has hit the keyboard, so forgive me.

I had an absolute blast with my workshops this month, all of them centered around the Itty Bitty Bits stamp set and matching Punch Pack and Bitty Buttons.  It’s such a totally cute stamp set and I was really happy with the projects I made with them and gave to my hostesses.

I was determined to work Poppy Parade into this month’s colour scheme and was happy to land on this combination, which actually includes four out of the five In-colours, plus Baja Breeze.  Bright and colourful and perfectly suited to the Itty Bitty range.

Here’s the first one…

This first example shows just the stamping aspect of the set – at least the ones that I demonstrated at the workshops did…  This sample of mine has a stuffed up Poppy Parade flower under the punched out one, but imagine if you will a Poppy Parade flower stamped directly onto the circle of Whisper White just like the other two.

Thanks

For the second sample, I busted out the co-ordinating Punch Pack for this, my favourite of the bunch…

Same colours as before, just in different proportions – something I have been doing in all my recent workshops to show the versatility of a combination of four or five colours

For the third sample, I popped on some of the delightful Bitty Buttons for some added cuteness and dimension…

Same colours again, a bit more of the polka dot theme that I seem to have going on, plus a Sale-a-bration set (last day to get yours tomorrow!!) for good measure

At $55.85* for a stamp set, pack of three co-ordinating punches and 64 buttons, you really can’t go wrong, unless of course you don’t act before tomorrow evening, as these sweet products are set to become unavailable as soon as the Summer Mini finishes its reign.

If you’d like to add this set of lovelies to your order of the Square Lattice embossing folder from earlier, you’ll need to get in touch asap to make sure you can get them!

Alternatively you can wait until tomorrow and order at the last minute, as I’ve got something to show you that might have you adding the Aviary stamp set as well…

* Cost for clear mount stamp set not including shipping.  The total of all the products inclusive of the stamp set in woodmount is $59.85

“Itty Bitty Bits of loveliness”
Stamps: Itty Bitty Bits, Teeny Tiny Sentiments, So Happy for You
Paper: Baja Breeze, Poppy Parade, Pear Pizzazz, Blush Blossom, Whisper White, In-colour DSP stack,
Ink: Baja Breeze, Poppy Parade, Pear Pizzazz, Blush Blossom, Peach Parfait
Accessories: Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Scallop Edge, 1-1/4″ Square, 1-3/4″ Circle & 2-3/8″ Scallop Circle Punches; Timeless Type Junior Alphabet Sizzlits, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Pear Pizzazz Stampin’ Write Marker, Blush Blossom Stitched Poly, Basic Rhinestones, Bitty Buttons

This week’s challenge over at Just Add Ink seemed like a bit of a no-brainer at first glance….

Just add stamps.  Okay, so that’s what I would have been doing anyway, where’s the challenge in that..?!

Then of course once I took the time to read past the title of the post, I realised that the emphasis was on the just.  As in nothing but stamps.

No DSP, no ribbon, no buttons or brads, no punches or die cuts, no fancy schmancy techniques, just stamps and the cardstock they are placed upon.

Once I got going with my idea (and managed to bust it out in no more than three and a half  minutes) I realised that the JAI gals might be onto something…

While I love nothing more than getting a swag of new products and things to play with (got some just last week from the upcoming Autumn-Winter mini catalogue in fact – ssshhhhhhhh!!) there’s something to be said for heading back to the bare basics of stamps, ink and cardstock.

And the time factor – or lack of time taken – is a definite bonus!  I’m heading off to make some more of this particular design to send out randomly in the next week or so.

Check back over the next couple of days, as I just realised how close we’re coming to the end of March, and therefore the end of Sale-a-bration AND the Summer Mini!  I think this may just have been my favourite ever mini and I have some things to show you that I haven’t managed to get up here yet, so tune in for a last minute flurry of Summer Mini activity in the coming days…

“Just Add Ink #61 – Just Add Stamps!”
Stamps: Growing Green, Apple Blossoms
Paper: Naturals Ivory, Soft Suede
Ink: Soft Suede, Old Olive, Pear Pizzazz, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso
Accessories: Stampin’ Sponge (hope that’s allowed!!)

So I’m a whole day – almost two – late with my Challenge Chewsday entries, and although I had them all stamped and photographed yesterday, falling asleep on the couch at 8pm won out over editing and uploading them.

I’m here now though, albeit after another busy day, but I’m determined to get these up (preferably before the opening bars of Farmer Wants a Wife) so let’s get this show on the road…

This week’s challenge over at Just Add Ink is to case the two gorgeous and talented stampers who started the site a year ago now and have just stepped down (handing the reins to two equally gorgeous and talented stampers, I will add).  The most challenging part of this challenge was deciding which of their amazing creations to case!

But decide I did, and here’s what I came up with.  This card is based on this beauty from Danielle’s blog…

And the next one is based on this little bit of delight from Amanda’s blog…

If you want to play along, you’d better be quick as I’m pretty sure the challenge is only open for another hour or so, and if you live over here in the West, there’s less than half an hour 15 minutes ’til Farmer, so you have even less time

Even if you don’t play along, I’d encourage you to head on over to Danielle and Amanda’s blogs to check out their wonderful talents and to say hi

“CASEing Danielle”
Stamps: Awash with Flowers, Woodgrain, Apple Blossoms
Paper: Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Blushing Bride, Whisper White
Ink: Crumb Cake, Regal Rose, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Blushing Bride (Marker), So Saffron (Marker)
Accessories: 5/8″ Old Olive Grosgrain Ribbon, Top Note Die, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Stampin’ Dimensionals

“CASEing Amanda”
Stamps: Sweet Summer (Sale-a-bration), Tiny Tags
Paper: Crumb Cake, Pear Pizzazz, Watercolour Paper
Ink: StazOn Black, Baja Breeze, Marina Mist
Accessories: Aquapainter, White Gel Pen, Two Step Bird Punch (stem), Stampin’ Dimensionals

So I’m wrapping up the bonanza – brief as it has been – with a card that I made for the little man of some dear friends of ours who turned one at the end of December.

I wanted to do something bright and funky, and I also wanted to make use of the Party Hearty stamp set.  Inspired by this card that I found on Splitcoast Stampers, which in turn had been inspired by this card by my lovely friend SJ (gotta love the inspiration merry-go-round that makes up the creative process!), this was the result…

I was super happy with how it turned out, and you’ll note that I added some Daffodil Delight and Early Espresso to my go-to boy colour combination of Blue, Red and Green

I’m off to enjoy this lovely long weekend that stretches before us in WA, starting today in fact, with a pupil free day for my gals at school, followed by a workshop with a great bunch on Saturday afternoon, and some serious chillin’ on Sunday and Monday.

Let me know if there’s anything you want/need to know about how this card went together, and I’ll see if I can delve into the recesses of my memory from late December to help you out!

“Happy 1st Birthday Richie”
Stamps: Party Hearty
Paper: Pacific Point, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White
Ink: Pacific Point, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Pear Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight (Markers)
Accessories: 3/4″ Circle Punch, Small Tag Punch, 1-3/4″ Circle Punch, 1/4″ Daffodil Delight Grosgrain Ribbon, Stampin’ Dimensionals

Right off the bat, I’m going to need to ask you to be kind to me today.

Firstly because I’m not at all sure of the card that I’ve made, but if I take the time to make another one, Challenge Chewsday will turn into Where the Heck Have You Been Wednesday and that’s just not in the rules.

Secondly, I have found a picture online that I rather like so have turned it into a bit of a challenge of my own – the first I have ever thrown out there, so make of THAT what you will.

And thirdly, I have just spent waaaaay longer than usual with the process of uploading and editing my photo as our hard drive packed it in on Saturday morning, presenting me with an error message that I simply could not decipher when I switched it on, so I have had no computer all weekend, got it back yesterday afternoon and have spent a goodly chunk of this evening re-loading my programs, trying and failing to locate the disc that came with our camera in order to load photo’s onto the computer (I managed a work-around), re-doing my watermark in Photoshop and getting myself all hot and bothered in the process in this incessantly humid Perth weather.

Whinge over.  Moving on…

This is the challenge that I set for myself this week…

The image comes from a blog I love to look at and have stashed away in my Google Reader in a file I call Gorgeous Inspiration.  I’m sure when you check out A Creative Mint for yourself, you will agree that it has been aptly filed

Here is the card that I based on the colours above and am still unsure of, but we’ve been over that, so here you go…

I just received the Sale-a-bration set So Happy for You last week, and this was its first foray out of the box.  I did plan to keep the card simple, but I think I may have erred too much on the side of simplicity as it turns out…

This stamp set is one of the four that is available to you for FREE with a purchase of over $100 during the Sale-a-bration period, which finishes up at the end of the month.

Check out all of the available freebie stamp sets –>HERE<– then contact me to place your order!

“Challenge Chewsday – One of my own”
Stamps: So Happy for You
Paper: Pacific Point, Baja Breeze, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Brights DSP Paper Stack
Ink: Pacific Point, Baja Breeze, Tangerine Tango
Accessories: Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Whisper White 5/8″ Grosgrain Ribbon

Two weeks in a row – I’m on a roll folks!  And you’ll note that Challenge Chewsday got the nod from the majority of commenters (commentators?!) on the last post – not that I was taking a poll or anything, but since you offered your opinions, let’s go with it!

This week I headed back to Inkspirations HQ and used the fabulous sketch on offer there…

Combined with this PRETTY colour combination from ColourQ…

And this is what I turned them into…

On Thursday just gone, our gorgeous across-the-road neighbours added a beautiful baby girl to their already sweet and lovely family, so as a heartfelt thank you for giving me a brand new baby to sniff, with a little bit of congratulations thrown in, this is the card I made for baby Lily, that we headed over this afternoon to give them.

I also made a little matching gift tag to hang from the bag…

So there you have my challenge entry for this Chewsday!  Hope you’re enjoying my new blog feature – I certainly am!

• An oldie but a goodie – sponge the edges of your cardstock and paper for a lovely vintage look
• Punch a strip of cardstock with a border punch, feed it through the Crimper, then concertina the straight edge together and stick it behind an oval or circle shape for a pretty border
• Use a White Gel Pen in conjunction with watercolouring for some great highlights

“Happy Birth-Day Lily!”
Stamps: Awash with Flowers, Teeny Tiny Sentiments
Paper: Blushing Bride, Crumb Cake, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Watercolour Paper, Cherry Cobbler, In-color DSP stack,
Ink: Versamark, Blushing Bride, Crumb Cake, Pretty in Pink, Pink Pirouette
Accessories: White Embossing Powder, Ovals die, Eyelet Border Punch, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Neutrals Brads, Crimper, 2-3/8″ Scallop Circle Punch, 1-3/4″ Circle Punch, Bitty Buttons, Owl Punch (heart), Blushing Bride Stitched Poly Ribbon, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Glue Dots, Stampin’ Sponges

I have a couple of layouts that I did way back in September last year, around the time of my new catalogue launch, and I thought it was about time I shared them here…

This one was based on a layout I found in a magazine and loved, but do you think I can – for the life of me – find it now?!  It’s very likely to have been from the pages of a Scrapbook Trends mag (rather a fave!) and if I can track down the actual issue, I will be sure to edit this post with the info.

The oldy-worldy map paper from the Newsprint DSP was perfect for this layout about the little girl from Ethiopia that we started sponsoring last year.  The story of how it came about is written in the background of the layout and reads like this…

“For the past few months, every time the World Vision commercial came onto the TV, you would stop everything you were doing to watch.  And every time the commercial was over, you would ask “Mummy can we sponsor a child..?”  We would talk about all the things we have – simple things that we don’t even think about, like clothes, food, clean water – and how some people in the world don’t have those things. Last week the ad came on TV again, and this time, as I waited for the question to come, I thought to myself that this time when you asked, the answer would be YES.  I love the way you are so thoughtful and sensitive to the needs of others and I love that you are always looking for ways to help.  We went onto the World Vision website and found Biftu – a seven year old girl in Ethiopia, who is born on the exact same day as you.  We completed all the sponsorship details and read how the little bit of money that it costs can help Biftu with her education and her family with food and water.  When the information came in the mail, you opened it up to read all about Biftu and you put her picture by your bed.  Thank you, my angel, for having such a big, beautiful heart…”

Next week I’ll show you the other layout that is also very close to my heart

Speaking of scrapbooking, with the poppets now happily back at school, or off to school for the first time, as is the case with my small girl, I’m dipping my toes back into the waters of the stamping class!

If you get my newsletter, you will have seen in last month’s edition that I am offering two classes this month, one of which is a scrapbooking class next Monday night.

I have three places left in this class and am SO excited about the layout, so would love you to join me if you can!

Here’s a peek at the layout we’ll be doing…

I used a pic of my scrumptious baby nephew for my layout, but it’s not specifically designed as a baby layout – any pic that will fit with the delicious colours of the Elegant Soiree DSP will do the job!

The class is $15, with all materials provided and will be held at my house in Perth next Monday, 21 February at 7.30pm.  Be sure to let me know if you’d like to nab one of the remaining places!

And don’t forget to pop back here tomorrow for the latest installment of Challenge Chewsday…!

“One World 12×12 Layout”
Stamps: Circle Circus
Paper: Garden Green, Melon Mambo, Basic Black, Old Olive, Newsprint DSP
Ink: Garden Green
Accessories: 1-3/8″ Circle Punch, Scallop Edge Border Punch, Timeless Type Junior Alphabet Sizzlits, Cropadile

At the end of every school year I like to do a little something for the kids in my big girl’s class at school.  The trouble is, it gets harder to do something ‘different’ each year, especially as they’re getting older and more discerning!

This year, was made a little easier by virtue of the fact that a few weeks ago, a fellow demonstrator posted a message on our demonstrator forum (FAB resource that it is!) that she had loads and loads of long, thin self-sealing plastic bags that she’d be happy to offload in packs of 100 to any interested parties.

Turns out there were a lot of interested parties, so it’s a good thing she really did have loads of them!

I relieved her of 10 packs, which if you bother to do the maths, is a whole BUNCH of bags, but I had never seen them anywhere before and they’re perfect for fun little gifts of the classmate variety, and with my small girl starting Kindy next year, I’m all of a sudden going to find myself needing to make double of everything at gift time.

As it turns out, another demonstrator on the forum alerted us all to the fact that Woolworths had packs of red, green and white jelly beans available for Christmas, so after picking up an armful of those, sitting with my big girl on the floor, first sorting the jelly beans into colours, then loading them into the bags, a stamped and folded tag punch later, this is what we had….!

The Sparkly and Bright stamp set would have to be my favourite Christmas set for this year – SO cute and whimsical and perfect for this particular job

I arrived at the little folded over tag at the top, as it gave me a place to stamp something, without being so labour intensive that I would start to hyperventilate when the crowd of seven year olds in receipt of the jelly bean packets started ripping them apart and throwing them away.

I put together an impromptu little tutorial in case you’re wondering how to achieve the folded over tag idea for yourself.  Please keep in mind the word impromptu when considering the quality (or not) of the pictures…

Start with a piece of cardstock folded in half.  I used Whisper White, which is a bit thinner than the regular cardstock so the double width is easily punched through.  Not sure how the thicker stuff would go…

Now slide the folded cardstock into to the punch so that there is a tiny (1mm or so) gap between the cardstock and the top of the punch…

Now punch!  And this is what you get…

And if you’re doing a whole batch of these as I was, you can cut strips of cardstock (I cut a piece of A4 Whisper White in half lengthways, then folded it in the middle, lengthways again), you can punch out a whole series of them…

To attach them to the bags, I simply stapled the back of the tag to the bag, then stuck the front of the tag down with a Stampin’ Dimensional.

Since I have a truckload of these bags now, I’m going to give a pack of 100 away to one of you, but you have to earn it!

Tell me your ideas for little stamped gifts so that I can be ready in advance for next year – I have double the amount to make from 2011 onwards remember, so I’m going to have to get myself prepared well in advance!

Winner will be randomly chosen on Monday!

“Merry and Bright Classmate Gifts”
Stamps: Merry & Bright
Paper: Whisper White
Ink: Early Espresso, Real Red
Accessories: Early Espresso, Real Red & Wild Wasabi Markers

“…eat something cute!”.

Is that not the sweetest saying and the perfect addition to a card for somebody that makes the most amazing cake creations the world has ever seen?!

Or set of cards, as the case may be, which was in fact the case when I decided to make a gift for a friend of mine whose work you may have seen here previously.

Julie – the Queen of Cakes – has come to my aid on a number of occasions when a cake of the stunningly beautiful and amazingly delicious variety has been required so I decided that with the aid of the perfectly apt for the occasion hostess set Birthday Bakery, I would make her a set of cute little cards…

I made a set of ten cards – two each of five of the delightful cake images from the long stamp in the set, watercoloured then punched out:

This is no day for “just a sliver” is the second of the adorable sayings in the set, and I used both sayings – once each for each of the cake designs.

Then I stamped the envelopes to match, because Shelli says “never a naked envelope” and when you have the option of cute cake images dancing across the back of an envelope, I’m inclined to agree

The cards and matching envelopes went into a little box that I designed for the purpose…

… which was then held closed with a bow of Early Espresso Satin Ribbon…

The hardest part was figuring out how I might get it to Julie in the post and have it arrive in its original condition, which I managed with the helpful advice of our local Post Office guy (“The word fragile means nothing to Australia Post”) and the aid of a box designed to send VCR tapes through the post (does anybody even own a VCR anymore?!)

I’m pleased to report that they arrived in pristine condition the following day and even more so that Julie loved them as I hoped she would

I’m also pleased to let you know that I have created a little tutorial (featuring my current favourite Aviary stamp set!) on how you can make this set of cards and box for yourself.

I’ll be back tomorrow to let you know how you can get your hands on it

PS. Gals in my A Klass Act stampin’ team, head on over to the team forum – I’ve uploaded the tutorial for you there

“Birthday Bakery Gift Card Set”
Stamps: Birthday Bakery
Paper: Regal Rose, Naturals Ivory, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake
Ink: StazOn Jet Black, Crumb Cake, various colours for watercolouring!
Accessories: 1″ CirclePunch, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Early Espresso Satin Ribbon, Mini Square Envelopes