Simply Sent: Naked!

Ever wondered what exactly was in a Simple Delights Simply Sent Kit? Wonder no longer as the following picture reveals the full contents of one such kit:



To help celebrate World Card Making Day, Stampin' Up! is offering 20% of all Simply Sent Kits for one week only. So make sure that you get your orders in to me between October 4-11 so that you don't miss out! Come to my WCMD event to see what is in the kits for yourself, along with a couple of alternate card designs using the kits plus some additional Stampin' Up! supplies.

Full circle: two BFFs and a tag

My bad! I was given a couple of Blogging Friends Forever gold cards quite a while ago by two of the loveliest INKlings that I know:

Dani Fender who recently received worldwide recognition for her cardmaking talent by being chosen as one of Kristina Werner's final 15 for her Color Inspiration #22. Yay Dani! Her cards are wonderful and her enthusiasm infectious.

Michelle Dyson who was recently Newly Discovered by Allison. Michelle is very smart on top of being a fabulous crafter. I remember her describing some research that involved someone with an autoimmune condition swallowing an egg of a parasitic worm (which flourishes in pigs) to switch their immune systems to infection fighting mode. This was in great detail and all over dinner! It was seriously interesting and I was really grateful that we had lasagne and not spaghetti that night.

While I was very chuffed to be on the receiving end, I wasn't so keen on one of the rules attached to passing it on. The rules are:

1. Only 5 people allowed.
2. 4 have to be dedicated followers of your blog
3. one has to be someone new or recently new to your blog and live in another part of the world.
4. you must link back to whoever gave you the award.

Yep! I wasn't too sure about rule #2. Who on earth would be a dedicated follower of this blog?! Hmmmm ... checked the list of followers on Blogger (new blogspot feature, btw) and she's already mentioned in this post. So, instead of dedicated followers of my blog, I decided that I would link to the incredibly generous bloggers who have included me in their blog roll to say many many thanks for doing so. I've excluded INKlings from this because I always link to them anyway (they should be known as lINKlings)! In addition, I absolve my newly declared BFFs of any obligation to follow the rules. Can I do that?! I just did!!

Marcia Pringle The Stamp Spot
Marcia makes the most gorgeous cards and off-the-page items in a mind boggling variety of styles. Check her blog for inspiration (or a good dose of awe!) I am really looking forward to seeing some scrap pages from her...does that count as a hint 'cause it really wasn't subtle, was it?

Sue Madex Madex Creations
Sue is famous as she is a commissioned contributor to Aussie Scrapbooking! Her site has great scrap pages and pretty cards and lots of useful tutorials too! *waves goodbye to those rushing off to check out the tutorials*

Chris Parker-Barnes Dot Dot Stamping
Chris recently started blogging in August and already has an impressive collection of cards on display. There is even a cutie pie shot of her little one in a scrap page...

Sarah Klass
Surely, she needs no introduction! Sarah is a top Stampin' Up! demonstrator - one of the select 22 to achieve the Incentive Trip to Palm Cove. She has a really funky style and she can make truly beautiful cards too!

Latisha Coleman Prayer & Stamps
Latisha has not yet left a comment here but I stumbled across her blog and spotted my blog in her linky-list. Latisha is from the US and you know what that means...PREVIEW! She has made the most of Pacific Point and I hope we get some of the marvellous stamps that she has used on her lovely creations.

I also just got tagged by Marcia! But I've already been tagged before and you really don't want to find out another 7 facts about me, right?! I'm sure you were traumatised enough by my first response...

So, why the full circle? It turns out that when I was first tagged in May, my taggees were Michelle and Dani - my two BFFers! How neat is that for an ending?!

Scraptember

I hadn't intended it but September has been the month of scrapbook pages of my nephew. On realising this, I decided to create a row of it by adding one more. I remember being told at school that two does not constitute a row - as in two in a row was just nonsensical. But two in a row does make sense, right? After all, it just means one following one other. Anyway, being a particularly pedantic student, I had gleefully stuffed that "rule" into multiple parts of my brain for future reference. I am sure that those brain cells are now a complete waste of space and mourn the fact that they could have been better put to use for remembering:
• Hubby's mobile phone number when asked by an interested employer,
• the names of people that I worked with 10 years ago and bump into at the beginning of a long train ride,
• whether we have to put out the recycled or the garden waste bin this week,
• to post that letter sitting in my OUT tray for the last four weeks! Gah!
• when swaps are due...

Speaking of which ... back to the scrapbook page. This was made for a 6X6 swap co-ordinated by the amazing Alana, who showed great patience as some of us were kinda all over the place (including me as I forgot when this swap was due until a week before closing date and had to beg for an extension). Thanks so much, Alana! Many thanks also to the lovely ladies who took part for the marvellous pages that I received.

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Pumpkin Pie
Real Red
Tempting Turquoise
Wild Wasabi
VersaMark

Stamps:
Defining Alphabet
Frames with a Flourish
Seeing Spots
Sprinkles

Paper:
East Coast Prep DSP
Pumpkin Pie Prints DSP
Tempting Turquoise Textured CS

Accessories:
1/2", 1", 1 1/4" Circle Punches
Horizontal Slot Punch
Real Red Striped Grosgrain Ribbon
Sponge Daubers

Make Your Own on World Card Making Day 2008

It is less than two weeks to go until World Card Making Day on the 4th of October! For those of you thinking that you are too busy to retrieve your craft supplies from the many nooks in your house, sit down to design and make cards, why not join me on the day? I'll have prepared all the tools and stuff you need as well as cutting cardstock to size so that you can enjoy the fun part - the stamping and card making! As for the regular card makers, join me anyway, for an afternoon of card making fun - you know you don't have to do any of the hard work...

There may be somebody out there who wants to try out card making - give it a go at my place. If you find it as enjoyable as I do, you can start your stash with a Simply Sent Kit. Stampin' Up! will be offering 20% of all Simply Sent kits during that week (4-11 October). I'll be displaying the contents of a few of the kits and some of the things that you can make with them.

Here are the details:

Date:	Saturday, October 4th 2008
Time:	2pm
Where:	Broad Arrow Road, Riverwood, NSW
Cost:	$5 to attend and includes a Make & Take and refreshments. Stamp-A-Stack (including envelopes) is: ● $12 for 4 deluxe cards ● $12 for 6 standard cards
RSVP:	Wednesday, October 1st 2008 [My contact details] Booking is essential as I have to prepare supplies for the event.

Deluxe Cards
Two Christmas cards and two birthday and/or thank you cards featuring:
● Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware
● textured cardstock
● Designer Series Paper
● ribbon.

Standard Cards
Three Christmas cards and three greeting cards featuring:
● Designer Series Paper
● a range of sentiments to choose from
● all Stampin' Up! supplies.




If you can't make it to this event, and you know at least three other people who are interested in making these cards, please contact me and we can arrange a time and place to stamp your own stacks (because it is card making day just about every day for me!).

Out of order

Such strange serendipity! I was entering the title of this post with just the hint of a smirk, when Fate slapped me down for being out of order. The original meaning that I had intended for this title was that I would be showing one of the challenges for the cyberstamp out of sequence...but when Blogger's Autosave feature activated, I was greeted with "Autosaved failed" and prompted with the standard suggestion of please try again...which I did. Hmmmm...did I try that again or did I imagine myself pressing the Save button? So I pressed it again. "Autosaved failed". Oh no! Blogger is out of order!

So, I trawled through the Blogger Help Forums, found no help there but lots of panicky people rearranging chairs. I then tinkered around with my settings and if you are experiencing the same problems, try clearing your browser cache and refreshing on each form before you use it (such as the list of posts and when you open up the edit post form). It worked for me [ETA: just long enough to get this posted] !

The third challenge for this month's INKlings Cyberstamp was the option of either a scrapbook layout or making a card using a themed stamp set so that the theme was not featured (eg. a Christmas stamp set for a birthday card) or vice versa (eg. a Valentine's day card from a non-themed flower stamp set). The scrapbook page is to use [WARNING: sample scrap page features a SNAKE] the following sketch.

I've posted this out of order so that my mum can see another layout of my nephew, Shi Wei! I've kept her waiting long enough...

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Chocolate Chip
Really Rust
Wild Wasabi

Stamps:
Defining Alphabet
Priceless set

Paper:
Apple Cider DSP
Naturals Ivory CS
River Rock Textured CS
Vellum CS

Accessories:
1/16" Circle Punch
Anchored Rub-ons
Antique Brass Hodgepodge Hardware
Black Hemp Twine
Corner Rounder Punch
Earth Elements Buttons

INKlings colour challenge round-up

I'll update links for cards if they come online. And yes! I've had to add mine in to make up the numbers. Also, I haven't forgotten Jayne's - it is just that hers is top top secret.

Postmarked cyberstamp

The monthly INKlings Cyberstamp came around again and this time I got to set the challenges. Needless to say, it was just another excuse for me to do something silly in the name of trying to be funny *grin*

For the first challenge, I chose a colour scheme. I really hope that Kristina Werner does not mind but I CASEd her color inspiration - for this one Cyberstamp only. Please don't sue me, Kristina!

As some of you may already have read, I love shoes! I use to collect them but, now, most of them sit in storage, waiting for their moment in the sun when they go for a jaunt down the red carpet. (What can I say? I'm a big disappointment to these shoes!) Anyway, after rummaging through the shoe stash that stays with me, I found this pair that screamed out "Wear me to somewhere grand!" - instead, I featured them as inspiration for a colour challenge...

I hope to feature a round-up of the INKlings wonderful creations using this colour scheme if they post them on their respective blogs. In the meanwhile, here is my attempt:

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Almost Amethyst
Chocolate Chip
Encore Silver

Stamps:
Simple Delights set
Priceless set

Paper:
Almost Amethyst
Basic Black
Chocolate Chip
Whisper White
Silver Metallic

Accessories:
Basic Black Grosgrain Ribbon
Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon
Mat Pack
Square Ice Rhinestone
Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware
Silver Embossing Powder

Unfortunately, this card does not exist in this form any longer. After I snapped the first photo of it, the wind swept it up and dumped it on the grass that was left wet by the rain. So, it is a smudged remnant of its former self. Oh well! At least I have one photo - maybe I should scrap it up?

Auntie Lin Meanie falls from grace

When you see photos of my nephew, Shi Wei, you'll take his side, for sure! But I'm going to share this little story anyway.

My nephew is the cutest, cutest, cutest little prickly pear in the whole world. The first part is easily confirmed by checking out pictures of him. The second part relates to the fact that you really have to earn his affection. If you are not in his good books and you try to guide him with a gentle touch on his back, he will turn around, grab your offending hand and fling it away (did I capture enough of his disdain there? If not, just insert "disdainfully" before "fling"). But, if you have managed to ingratiate yourself with him by being at his beck and call and not squealing on him to his parents if he hits you, you've got it made! When it is time to put on his socks, he will come to you, sit in front of you and offer you the privilege of dressing his feet - I have to confirm that it completely sets the cockles of my heart ablaze.

By the last day of my stay in Perth, I had managed to inveigle my way to "Shi Wei's Best Friend"¹ status. This was no mean feat it had to be wrested from my mum who had earnt and held on to that title with tonnes of tolerance and lots of dark chocolate. I know you are wondering who feeds children dark chocolate? But it's my sister's rules! Anyway, so Shi Wei asked me to accompany him to my father's home gym, which to my nephew is the equivalent of the Forbidden Forest - scary and dangerous and, therefore, lots of fun! I was a nervous wreck when he clambered on to the equipment since there were countless protusions (OK...11 to be exact) which I kept imagining him hurting himself on. When I tried to hold him to make myself feel happier about his safety, he batted away my hands and told me to "Go away!" Yeah! So much for "Best Friend" status.

While on the gym, he patted this, twisted that and then slipped slightly on something round and gave us both a heart attack. No more Auntie Nice Gal! I lifted him off the gym and Boy! Did he protest! He wriggled, he squirmed, he shouted "No!" and, in the kerfuffle, my spectacles got knocked askew. He then proceeded to raspberry me which covered my face in a fine mist of spi... threw me back to the summer days in London when you'd get soaked by really light rain yet never felt a drop of water hitting you. I deposited him next to his mother (hoping that it was the equivalent of handing over the baton of responsibility) and proceeded to observe the following exchange.

"I don't like Auntie Lin Mei!" declared Shi Wei to my sister. [LM thinks: "Best Friend" status to Shi Wei Enemy Number One in eight seconds] "I hit her glasses off," he said while pumping his little fist into the air, "and then I pppphhhhhrrrrrrtttffff all over her!" he finished triumphantly. My sister then asked him, "Shi Wei, did you want a timeout²?" [LM: Sweet schadenfreude! I'm such a bad auntie...]

The photos in this page were taken by Shi Wei's great photographer father. The page includes a sneak peek of the stamp set that we received during the 2008 Stampin' Up! Sydney regional seminar.

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Bashful Blue
Basic Black
VersaMark

Stamps:
Live Your Dream set
Sprinkles set

Paper:
Bashful Blue CS
East Coast Prep DSP
Pumpkin Pie CS
Whisper White CS
Wild Wasabi Textured CS

Accessories:
1 3/8" Circle Punch
Anchored Rub-Ons
Crop-A-Dile
Jumbo Eyelets in Antique Brass
Mat Pack
Round Tab Punch
Stampin' Write Marker in Basic Black
Stampin' Write Marker in Tempting Turquoise
Striped Grosgrain Ribbon in Bashful Blue
Word Window Punch

---

1. Exclude his parents - they are way above "Best Friend" status.
2. Timeout - the only disciplinary action we subject Shi Wei to is being told to stay quiet for a minute.

Dad-ication

My father's birthday and Father's Day are very close together - in fact, every seven or so years they fall on the same day. And I reckon that's kinda unfortunate for him. It is like having your birthday close to Christmas ... everyone gives you one card and one present and says they've combined the two events (but never mentions that it is with a 40% discount *wry grin*). But that's me completely projecting because my Dad really doesn't seem to mind.

Hence, this dedication to my Dad: a one of a kind father, who is incredibly generous and charming...and interesting! He was definitely there for me when I was growing up and I appreciate the time that he always makes for us whenever we need him. A heartfelt thank you, Dad.

The little boy in "Summer by the Sea" could be my nephew and I thought it was just the right image for Dad's card since my father derives so much joy from his grandson. I'm sure they'll have a great time at dinner, together, tonight!

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Basic Black
Creamy Caramel

Stamps:
One of a Kind set
Sanded background
Summer by the Sea set
Wonderful Favourites set

Cardstock:
Creamy Caramel
Kraft
Naturals Ivory
Vellum

Accessories:
Aquapainter
Crop-A-Dile
Earth Elements brads
Hodgepodge Hardware in Antique Brass
Sponge Daubers
Watercolor Crayons in all colour families
Watercolor Pencils

To all the fathers and grandfathers out there reading my blog, I hope you have a lovely Father's Day. Or, more likely, I hope that your father and/or husband has/have a wonderful day with you. Happy Father's Day!

KWERNERDESIGN.COM COLOR inspiration 21

I've been admiring many creations using Kristina Werner's fabulous COLOR inspirations for a while now. I had considered joining in the fun but I was either too late off the mark or I had something else more pressing like workshops or swaps or washing my hair (Hey! It gets itchy if I wait long enough!).

This time I only have a hundred and forty swaps to make for the Sydney regional on Saturday so she'll be apples¹! Actually, choosing to take part in this COLOR inspiration just shows that I wasn't really committed to the swaps in the first place. Anyway, the snazzy colour combination chosen by Kristina:





Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss, Rose Red, Regal Rose, Whisper White

I've had to adopt her suggestion of replacing two of the US SU!'s '08-'09 In Colors with Tempting Turquoise and Old Olive. Thank you, Kristina, for the great inspiration. I suppose I should go back to pretending that I am working hard on those regional swaps...

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Basic Black
VersaMark

Stamps:
Kindness wheel
Sassy Stems set
Short & Sweet set

Cardstock:
Old Olive
Rose Red
Tempting Turquoise
Vellum

Accessories:
Aquapainter
Earth Elements brads
Heat Gun
Theater Ribbon Originals
Whisper White Grograin
White Embossing Powder
White Gel Pen
Watercolor Crayons (in every colour family except for Soft Subtles!)

---

1. Aussies don't really use the phrase "she'll be apples" nowadays so we have a giggle about its fuddy-duddiness whenever we see it in the Stampin' Up! G'Day Mate stamp set. OK...so I speak for myself!

Fall in Spring

A rather funny thing happened this afternoon. I was out with Hubby on a pleasant bike ride, enjoying what the Bureau of Meteorology was predicting would be the last sunny day for a week, when I felt some resistance to my pedalling. This is one of those moments when time suddenly changes and everything seems to take place in slow motion. After the initial sensation, I realised with a strange sense of clarity, accompanied by no small order of dread, that my right shoelace had caught in the bike gears and that I was in trouble. So, I engaged the brakes, put my legs down to stand and felt the right shoe snag on the gears and my body tip sideways. I knew I was going to fall...and so I did. *crash*

Hubby dropped his bike, rushed over, made consoling remarks and proceeded to tie my errant shoelace after checking out the hand that I had landed on. He then undid my other shoelace and re-tied it again for added security. Isn't he wonderful?

So, here is the funny bit (finally!)...As we resumed our ride home, Hubby said he watched the incident and saw that I looked relaxed as I was falling! Relaxed?!! Woohoo! What a wholly unexpected compliment!

So, all the way home, I pictured myself taking part in a Miss Congenial Fallover competition. Judges would note "Contestant is very comfortable with unsuccessful suspension in air. Scores highly on obliviousness to impending collision." One can dream big...

I made the following card for a swap that was very ably organised by a very busy Kari. I would like to dedicate it to Hubby who definitely makes my life a beautiful thing.

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Encore^® Gold
Encore^® Silver
Real Red

Stamps:
A Beautiful Thing set

Cardstock:
Basic Black
Naturals Ivory
Real Red

Accessories:
Heat Gun
Paper Snips
Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon
Clear Embossing Powder

First day of Spring 2008

Blue sky, warm sun and a lizard scampering across the pavement - it is officially Spring in Sydney! I'd mention the ants and the constant hum of the washing machine but...ooooh! I just did! It is, indeed, a perfect day here for doing everything, including the laundry, and for doing nothing at all.

August completely got away from me but I'm springing into September with renewed verve and focus! So, kind and patient subscribers to my mailing list, you can expect a newsletter¹ from me by the 10th of this month - or I'll personally mail you a handmade "I'm so sorry for being a lazy penguin" card. If you have not signed up, then sign up already (and I mean that in the nicest possible way). For those of you with web mail, you can subscribe by e-mailing INKstructive@gmail.com with the subject header of Subscribe.

In terms of Stampin' Up! in September, have a look at the Free Wheelin' promotion which features a free wheel with a qualifying stamp set purchase. I love freebies!

May September grant you a spring in your step and smile on your face.

---

1. I can't guarantee that it'll have much in it though...

Free Wheelin' promotion

During the whole of September, Stampin' Up! is giving a free co-ordinating jumbo wheel with each purchase of a qualifying stamp set. Did I say free?! I sure did! Some of the stamp sets and matching wheels are my favourite ones - check out the Artfully Asian and Priceless bundles.

Book a September workshop with me or e-mail me with your order before the end of the month to make a wheely great deal of freewheeling!

Item #	Page #	Description	Price
113968	29	Merry, Merry Bundle Merry, Merry stamp set and All About Christmas wheel	$45.95
113969	48	Artfully Asian Bundle Artfully Asian stamp set and Watercolor Vine wheel	$45.95
113970	59	Nursery Necessities Bundle Nursery Necessities stamp set and Nursery Letters wheel	$56.95
113971	80	Bodacious Bouquet Bundle Bodacious Bouquet stamp set and Bodacious wheel	$58.95
113972	94-95	Carte Postale Bundle Carte Postale stamp set and Leaves à la Carte wheel	$48.95
113973	105	Priceless Wheel Bundle Priceless stamp set and So Swirly wheel	$48.95

Page numbers are from the Stampin' Up!^®2008-2009 Idea Book & Catalogue.

See here for the Stampin' Up! Free Wheelin' flyer.