Razzleberry Cottage Garden

My friend and new stamper Mary made this card for her neice as a Thank You for babysitting her kids. What a nice match Rich Razzleberry is with Pixie Pink! I did a one on one stamping session with Mary and she had lots of fun stamping, cutting and designing her own card.

Mary has teamed some strips of Cottage Wall Designer Series Paper with the large flower from Cottage Garden stamp set, on a base of Rich Razzleberry card, all from the current Mini catalogue. The background uses another stamp from the Cottage Garden set stamped in the always useful Versamark Ink which creates a lovely watermark on all colours of card. The For You greeting is from Fresh Cuts and is punched and mounted to make it pop up. Very cute indeed!

If you're a beginner (or more exerienced) in the papercraft world I'd be happy to spend a couple of hours with you in a free personalised lesson and you can use my collection of stamps, inks and punches to make something sweet. Just the ticket on these gloomy 'indoors' days! Just drop me a line to organise a time.

Oh just one more thing - my May Specials finish in 2 days so please let me know if you have any orders to take advantage of the following deals:

Special offer #1 - Order $50 for bonus stamp


Special offer #2 - Order $100 for free stamp set


Special offer #3 - Starter Kit special $259 ($560 value - until 31 July)


Special offer #4 - Order anything from Autumn-Winter Mini receive surprise thank you gift


Special offer #5 – Thrifty crafter pack incl. A4 cardstock pack, matching pattern paper sampler, 2 inkpads of your choice, one a la carte stamp (choose All a Flutter or Share a Cup) plus mini embellishment kit - just $50


Special offer #6 – Idea Book and Catalogue just $8 or $12 if you’d like it posted to you.

Have a lovely week - can you believe its nearly June??

Love Carolyn x

Why I Love Stampin' Up! and Starter Kit Special Offer

I joined SU this time last year as a hobby demonstrator, as I work 4 days a week already and wasn't interested in spending my spare time doing more work. But with SU I have found that being a hobby demonstrator isn't much work at all - and it definitely isn't hard. I just collect orders from family and friends, write a newsletter each quarter and update my blog with my creations. Its easy to order using SU's online ordering system and everything is tracked and calculated for you. Products are delivered straight to your door or they can be shipped directly to the customer or workshop hostess.

For that small amount of easy and enjoyable work I have been rewarded with lots of free stamp sets and free product of my choice, 20% commission on all orders plus 20% discount on all products I order, a world of advice and tips from the demonstrator website, forums and monthly magazine - Stampin' Impressions. There is lots of support from fellow demonstrators, and I am building connections and friendships with others who are also mad about papercraft, I'm so inspired by their ideas and energy! I've even learnt new skills like making this blog and budgeting for craft!

Until the 31 July, there is a 20% discount on the Starter Kit when you join Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator! Usually $324, you can join for just $259 - what a bargain!

The Stampin' Up! Starter Kit contains the following supplies, valued at over $560!

  

• Five stamp sets*

• Stampin' Around wheel*, handle, and cartridge

• Assorted card stock A4*

• Five Classic Stampin' Pads*

• VersaMark Pad

• Stampin' Pastels

• SNAIL Adhesive

• Blender pens

• Craft & Rubber Scissors

• Stampin' Scrub and Mist

• Business supplies

Some products such as ink colour and stamp sets can be changed for alternatives of your choice of the same or lower price. Talk to me to find out which items can be substituted.

And the Stampin Memories add-on can be ordered as an extra for just $75  (value $137)when you buy the starter kit  - and its great for Scrapbookers containing:

• 12 x12 cardstock
• Simply Scrappin Kit 
• Basic Black Stampin Write Journalling Pen
• Whisper White Stampin Pad
• Set of Alphabet Stamps

In these times of tight budgets craft can be seen as a bit of a luxury, but I don't see it like that. To me, my Stamping and Scrapbooking hobby is therapeutic, its positive, creative and is a very important part of my life. It keeps me happy and I feel it relieves stress and creates a feeling of wellness. Plus, making my own cards and gifts can actually save me money - I don't buy store cards, wrapping or as many gifts now - I have all the supplies to make them myself. Stampin' Up! allows me to create extra income which does more than cover the cost of my hobby.

Importantly my precious photos are kept in a decorative and meaningful way, not just in a folder on the computer. Im scared that many people in 20 or 50 years time won't have any photos, just outdated technology!! Making cards and scrapbook albums for my friends and family gives me so many rewards - as does Stampin' Up! It keeps up my enthusiasm when new products arrive and when I see other people's ideas. I just love being a part of the Stampin' Up! family.

I wonder if any of these things have resonated with you? If so give me a call or drop me a line with your thoughts and questions - I'd love to talk SU with you! 

Have a creative and relaxing weekend

Love Carolyn x

Butterfly Prints and Fresh Cuts For You

Just a quick little post to show you a quick little card I made for a lovely lady at work who has been facing chemotherapy recently. I grabbed one of my Baja Breeze scalloped note cards (from the Summer Mini Catalogue) with its matching manilla envelope and teamed it up with the new Soft Suede - do you like the colour combo?

This is literally a 5 minute card - anyone can do it! I simply stamped a Butterfly Prints butterfly on Whisper White and punched it out with the matching butterfly punch - love that! I stamped the antenna and verse directly on the card, sponged the scallop edge and popped the butterfly with a dimensional. Easy Peasy! Now butterflies call for bling so I just had to add 3 little pearls (non Stampin' Up) and make a coordinating envelpe using the Fresh Cuts set. I asked all my team mates to sign the card and my friend was so touched. Makes you feel good.

Hello to all my SU friends who are enjoying Convention at Darling Harbour (Sydney) this weekend - lucky ducks! Hope you all have a crafty weekend!

Love Carolyn xx

A Beautiful Vintage Weddding

Ben and Lisa are one of those cute couples who are absolutely 'made for each other'. They celebrated their vintage style wedding in a park on the banks of the Parramatta River on Saturday, and Steve and I had the pleasure of sharing their special day. The cocktail reception was at the Breakfast Point Country Club and was one of the happiest, most genuine and heartfelt weddings I've ever attended! 

 

Lisa looked radiant dressed in a silver lace dress with purple waistband and shoes! As you can see from the pics it was simple yet elegant, and I thought her bouquet of Singapre Orchids were just divine! 

And the Chocolate Oreo wedding cake was one of a kind!

Here is the wedding card I made for the special couple. I used the hearts from my favourite set Always and the flourish from Baroque Motifs - the most popular Stampin Up! set! Sage Shadow and Soft Suede, combine with Close to Cocoa and gorgeous taffeta ribbon for quite a vintage look - not bad seeing I had no idea the wedding would be vintage style!

Congratulations Lisa and Ben and thank you for sharing such a love-filled day with us!

Love Always

Carolyn x

The First Inklings Blog Hop

Hello friends
Welcome to The INKlings’ Team’s first ever blog hop. You may have arrived here from the lovely Rachel Capps blog, or just be visiting my blog, whichever way once you’ve checked out my creations you can continue the hop through the link at the end of this post to the next team member.

What style of cards do we regularly get asked for ideas on? More often than not it’s masculine cards, be it little boys or grandfathers everyone seems to struggle with cards for the males in our lives. So as a team we thought we’d help you out by providing you with 20 team members’ fantastic blogs that you can hop through and get lots of fantastic ideas from.

Want to win some Blog Candy? Simply leave a comment on each blog and then email Michelle Dyson and let her know you’ve done so and you’ll be in the running for a fantastic prize of 20 handmade cards plus other goodies. Sorry Blog Candy prize not available to SU! demonstrators.

My first masculine card I have to show you is a baby boy card I made for my dear little friend Flynn who is just 2 weeks old! Night of Navy teams up with Kiwi Kiss and Baja Breeze, one of my favourite Stampin' Up! colour combinations. I have used my Animal Stories stamps from the Summer Mini over and over again - such good value considering the number of new little bubs in my life recently!

The cute little Owl, Whale and Elephant are stamped and cut out individually and then popped onto Whisper White with Foam Dimensionals (gotta love them!). For the greeting I have used the Welcome Baby stamp from the Short and Sweet stamp set, punched out with the small oval, then matted on a Baja Breeze scalloped punchie. The background patterned paper is the Urban Garden, and the finishing touch is a Baja Breeze ribbon bow. So simple but so cute.

From one end of the lifesppan to the other, my second card has a vintage, mature feel to it and would be perfect for a Dad or Grandad. The Sage Shadow and Chocolate Chip card uses Stampin' Up's number 1 selling stamp set Baroque Motifs and lots of sponging using the daubers. For something different, the greeting is positioned in the middle of the card as a feature using Vintage Labels. Soft Suede dotty ribbon from the Autumn-Winter mini completes this masculine card. Hope you like my creations.

 

Well that’s all from me for today. Next stop on the INKlings’ Team Blog Hop is the talented Michelle Le Breton   Have fun blog hopping and don't forget to leave a little comment on each blog to win some great Blog Candy.


Thanks for looking and happy stamping!

Carolyn :)  

Build-A-Roo with our little Joey

When I was thinking of making a special welcome baby card for Sophie's paternal grandparents in Kent, UK, I just could't resist using this gorgeous kangaroo from Stampin' Up's Build-A-Roo set. Using the classic baby girl colours of pink and white I stamped Mummy Roo twice using Staz On Black ink; once on pink card and again on the spotty paper. Then I carefully cut out the pink Roo and cut just the pocket from the spotty one. I then stamped the little joey and cut her out assembling all pieces with foam Stampin' Dimensionals to make them come alive. A cute little greeting, a bit of sponging and some ribbon to finish off. Not very hard but really effective and soooo cute. I especially like the Aussie connection and the "little baby Joey" play on words (for those who don't know I affectionately call my sister Joey and therefore Sophie is our little Joey). 

Card Ingredients

Stamps: Build-A-Roo

Card: Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose

Paper: Spotty paper from Tea Party pack

Inks: Staz On Black, Regal Rose

Accessories: Whisper White grossgrain ribbon

Tools: Stampin Dimensionals, craft scissors to cut out images and round corners, circle punches to shape the greeting

I'm off to make lots more cards and get back into my scrapbooking, and prepare for the creative workshop with the MD ladies this Friday - I'm having so much fun Stampin' Up!

take care

Carolyn :) xx