Stationary Boxes

After much consideration and a little planning I have decided to make these stationary boxes to give to those affected by the fires. They will consist of handmade cards, notepaper, pens, gift tags, stamps etc.

This may not be something they are looking for right now, with the clean up and bear essentials being the immediate priority. But I felt in the coming months people may wish to send thank you notes, or just write down some thoughts and therefore these stationary boxes may come in handy.

Over the next few weeks I will be holding workshops to make some stationary boxes. At the workshops you will be given instructions for the box and then we will make up as many as we can. Below is an example one I have made.

Workshop dates in Lara Victoria

Wednesday 25th February 2009
7:30 - 9:30pm


Tuesday 3rd March 2009
7:30 - 9:30pm


Sunday 15th March 2009
2:00 - 4:00pm


Please e-mail me for more details

If you are unable to come to any workshops but would like to contribute that would also be wonderful.
Other ways to help could include making some cards, boxes or other stationary at home and sending them to me. If you have some supplies we could use to make up sets and you would like to donate those please contact me.

My sister is also having a quilting bee in Ashburton Victoria on Saturday 21st March 2009 if you would like more details please visit here.

Another fantastic site to visit if you wish to donate handmade items is handmade help.

Stampin' Up! Bushfire Appeal

Stampin' Up! have just announced they will be donating 50% of the retail price of all sales of 10 stamp sets to the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal. This will be from today (Feb 12th) until 31st March.

Stamp Set	Item Number	Page Number in Catalogue	Retail Price
Priceless	112312	105	48.95 AUD/57.95 NZD
Seeing Spots	108909	89	29.95 AUD /35.95 NZD
Baroque Motifs	112380	98	39.95 AUD /46.95 NZD
Live Your Dream	114261	3 (Summer Mini Catalogue)	55.95 AUD /66/95 NZD
Looks Like Spring*	108864	76	58.95 AUD /68.95 NZD
The Snowflake Spot*	108934	27	39.95 AUD /46.95 NZD
Bodacious Boquet*	108756	80	58.95 AUD /68.95 NZD
Polka Dots & Paisley*	110247	46	35.95 AUD /42.95 NZD
G'day Mate*	111973	115	35.95 AUD /42.95 NZD
Be Happy*	108744	51	39.95 AUD /46.95 NZD

*These sets will appear on the upcoming list of retiring products, so they will only be available for the Bushfire Appeal--while supplies last.

If you have ever wanted any of these sets then now is a great time to purchase them as it will also be supporting the bushfire appeal.

In addition to this I personally will be donating my 20% commission for all of February to the bushfire appeal.

Victorian Bushfire Appeal

As the news of the devastation caused by these fires continues to come in, my thoughts and prayers go out to all those who have lost loved ones, homes and so much more.

It seems there is going to be so much needed to help these people and communities to rebuilt so I have listed some details if you wish to make a donation.

To donate to the Red Cross State Government Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund:

* Visit www.redcross.org.au
* Phone 1800 811 700
* Any NAB, ANZ, Westpac or Commonwealth Bank branch
* Any Bunnings store
* By direct deposit to the Victorian Bushfire Relief Fund - BSB 082-001, Account number 860-046-797

Myer Bushfire Appeal
* All proceeds to the Salvation Army. Donate at any Victorian Myer store

School starts

This post has very little to do with stamping. Today was the first day back at school. It was Hamish's first day of school. Big sister Paige is now in grade 2 and was very proud to show Hamish the ropes on his first day.
For me it means more time to stamp!!!!! I did have a tiny moment of emotion when I saw my baby dressed in his school uniform all grown up, but I got over it very quickly when I thought about all the things I can now try to achieve in my own time.

So hopefully over the coming weeks and months there will be more creative things to share with you.

While the kids are away.............

The children have been at their Granparent's in Bendigo this week for a holiday, so I have been playing!!! Well I have been working also, but I found time to play with my brayer. It was lots of fun.
I did a workshop last night for my good friend Anita, and as she is an expert stamper I decided to show off some brayer techniques. Judging by the oohs and ahhs I think they enjoyed it and learnt something new.

This first picture is the make and take we did. It is an emboss resist technique which my up upline demonstrated at the Melbourne regionals.
I have used the Eastern Blooms set from the Summer Mini.

These ones are when I was playing with the brayer at home so I didn't look too much like a novice at the workshop. Again I have used the Eastern Blooms set.

I am going to Bendigo tomorrow to collect the children and while I am there I am doing a workshop for my Aunty and her friends. They have never seen Stampin' Up! before therefore I have come up with a fairly simple design for the make and take.
This is using the Priceless set and the Fall Flowers DSP. I hope they like it!!


This one I am going to demonstrate water colouring. I have used the Embrace Life set and the Ginger Blosssoms DSP both from the Summer Mini.
I have finalised details of my February Class.

Date: Tuesday 10th February 2009
Time: 7:30pm
Project: 3 Glitter Techniques
Cost: $6

If you are interested in coming along please contact me ASAP as places are limited.

2009 Calendar

As promised here is my 2009 Calendar. The January page shows what each calendar page looks like.
I have had trouble up loading all the photos so hopefully you can get a reasonable idea what I have done.
The pages are 12"x12" so therefore at the end of the year I can put them straight into my scrapbooking album. I have used lots of different stamp sets, colours and accessories so I am not going to list them all. If you would like to know specific info on any layout just ask and I will give you the details. Everything used is Stampin' Up!





















































































































































































































During the year I will be holding Calendar workshops and am planning a calendar weekend retreat at Sewjourn (more details to follow when I finalise a date), so if you are interested in making your own 2010 calendar let me know so I can keep you informed on dates etc.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone. I hope you all had a wonderful festive season.
The start of a new year is an exciting time and Stampin' Up! like to celebrate with Sale-A-Bration.
I am doing a mail out of the summer mini catalogue and the Sale-A-Bration catalogue today so if you are on my mailing list they should arrive in your letter box soon. In the mean time you can click on the images below to check out these catalogues on line.



So what is a Sale-A-Bration? Well during the months of January and February customers, hostesses and new recruits are rewarded with free stamp sets.

As a customer when you purchase $100 worth of Stampin'Up! products you can choose one of the Sale-A-Bration stamp sets free. There is no limit, therefore for every $100 you spend you can choose a free Sale-A-Bration set.

As a hostess you may also qualify for free Sale-A-Bration stamp sets when you hold a workshop with total sales over $600. With a $600+ worshop you may choose one Sale-A-Bration set in addition to other hostess benefits. When your workshop total sales reach $1200 you may choose a second Sale-A-Bration set and then a third set with sales over $1800.

If you join Stampin'Up! as a new recruit during the Sale-A-Bration promotion you can select any stamp set (to the value of $79.95) from the 2008-2009 Ideas Book and Catalogue free.

This is a fantastic promotion so don't miss out on the opportunity to get free stamp sets. If you wish to host a workshop during the Sale-A-Bration contact me to arrange a date.

I have been busy over the past week making my 2009 calender and am pleased to say I managed to complete it before the year started. I will take some photos of it and post my creation here really soon. It was so much fun making the calender, it has inspired me to do some calender making workshops this year. I will post the dates and details once I am organised.

Also this year I am going to start a stamp club. This will be a club with 10 people where you commit to spending $30 a month for 10 months and then take it in turns for hostess benefits. When it is your month for hostess benefits you may choose to also host a workshop and increase your hostess rewards, but you are guaranteed at least level 1.

The new year has obviously given me lots of inspiration as I am also planning on monthly workshops at my place the first one will be in February so keep an eye out for date and details.

Please feel free to contact me if you wish to go on my mailing list or are interested in any of the above.

Well I am going to be quite busy and am really looking forward to sharing all these exciting things with you.