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Thursday, August 28, 2008

Early spring clean?

This poor blog is full of dust - I really have neglected it for too long. *attempt to dust corner* *choke* *cough* *comes out looking like a battered fish ready for the fryer* I have a litany of excuses to trot out but who has the time and inclination to read them all?

But I do feel the need to share the following. Three weeks ago, on greeting my family...like most adults, I got the raw end of the exchange with my little nephew: I gave him two Disney DVDs and he gave me a virus-laden kiss. So, after that, I spent most of my visit in Perth at my parents' and my sister's houses watching the Olympics, or watching my nephew, hoping that my cough would go so that I could have a coffee in good company in the sunshine. No such luck, though, as my chest only cleared on the day I boarded the plane back to Sydney *sigh* Nevermind - I, at least, have a few fun nephew stories to share in the next few posts.

One of the good things about the Perth visit was that I was just in time to wish my sister a happy birthday over Peking Duck. I thought long and hard about what card to make for her and ended up using my new favourite stamp set "Summer by the Sea":
Ai Mei's Birthday Card using Stampin' Up! suppliesStampin' Supplies
Ink:
Lovely Lilac
Passion Pink

Stamps:
Circle of Friendship set
French Flair (retired)
Summer by the Sea set

Cardstock:
Certainly Celery
Lovely Lilac

Accessories:
1" Circle Punch
Aquapainter
Certainly Celery Grosgrain Ribbon
Cutter Kit
Pretties Kit
Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware
Watercolor Crayons in Bold Brights

This card makes me think of my sister's inner child and wishes that she would let her out a little bit more often. Sometimes there's just too much responsibility in being an adult! Speaking of which ... I'd better submit this and catch up with my backlog of mail and e-mails as a precursor to a Spring clean.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Missing/Inaction

I am going to be MIa (Missing/Inactive) quite a bit over the next couple of weeks while I am staying in Perth. After loading up my suitcase with 19.5kg of Stampin' Up! stuff (0.5kg remaining for...ummm...delicates and my camera) and 8.5kg of more Stampin' Up! stuff as carry on (yep! Got threatened with an overweight carry on fee by airline staff - quite understandably), I forgot to bring the USB cable for downloading images from my camera! *sigh* So, no pictures for this blog for a while.

I suppose that the fact that I brought my filled Aquapainters and watercolour pencils AND crayons onboard to keep me amused for the flight but left my pre-stamped images was a sign of things to come. I could have recovered from this oversight as I had my StazOn and stamps with me except that I didn't bring any paper! No watercolor paper, no Whisper White, no Very Vanilla ... not even a piece of scrap.

I examined every page of the inflight magazine for a page intentionally left blank but, as you can imagine, advertising space is at a premium. Contemplated using the serviette that came with my meal but had to use it as a serviette - Hubby will attest to me being a messy eater. I seriously considered using the airsickness bag out of desperation since StazOn is supposed to work on shiny surfaces but decided that it was too waxy to watercolour in any case (plus it would have been a constant reminder as to its original purpose). I was comprehensively thwarted!

I guess I will have to console myself with spending more time with my too cute nephew. He is too cute because when you look at him, you just want to hug the stuffing out of him but, when you approach him to do so, he shouts "GO AWAY!" Story of this trip so far, really.

Monday, August 4, 2008

It's Beautiful - wheely!

What a tremendous INKling team weekend it was! My amazing upline Jayne did a magnificent job of organising the event, and on top of that, producing the loveliest papercraft treats for each and every one of us. Thank you so much, Jayne!

One of my favourite things about the weekend, apart from meeting lovely and talented INKlings, was the Card in a Box. This is where all the supplies to make a card are placed into a box. As 18 of us took part, I got to make 17 different and wonderful cards. Mine was made using a gorgeous wheel, very appropriately named It's Beautiful, that features in the new Spring Mini. To bring out the lovely flowers and swirls in the wheel, I used the Poppin' Pastels technique to add multiple colours to the image.

Card in a boxStampin' Supplies
Ink:
Lovely Lilac
VersaMark

Stamps:
It's Beautiful wheel
Sweet Serendipity set

Cardstock:
Naturals Ivory

Accessories:
Designer Label Punch
Glue Dots
Mat Pack
Stampin' Dimensionals
Stampin' Pastels
Very Vanilla Grosgrain Ribbon




Hmmmmmm...I stopped editing this post to have dinner and watch TV and ended up sleeping on the couch! The weekend was bigger than I had realised!

A big wave to Jayne, Jo and Merryl - my gracious snore-free roomies! and Alana and Ryn - my clever quiz mates! Also, many thanks to Karen for kindly transporting me to the venue and back.

Friday, August 1, 2008

Spring Mini is in the air

Stampin' Up! Australia Spring Mini Catalogue
Well...the moment that Stampin' Up demonstrators have been waiting for a whole month has finally arrived! *cue trumpets* It is the first official day of the Spring Mini catalogue. *cue cheering*

Yes indeedy! The catalogue has ushered in new stamps (as expected but there's more! They are all die-cut!), new Designer Series Papers, new ribbons, new embellishments (yay! Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware! Rub-ons! Chipboard!) and new tool (ya...the singular is a little jarring here). Did I say that they are all new?

As you can tell, I would love to go on and on but I have to rush off to complete packing for an INKlings team weekend starting today. I will be back in a couple of days, however, to share more about the Spring Mini.

Have an august August!