More notables

Two of my awesome customers, Ruth and Bonny, accompanied me along with one of my fabulous downlines, Joyce, to the Stampin' Up! Australia Sydney Regionals on Saturday.

Of course, I appreciate all of my customers (!) but Ruth and Bonny have been amazing as they have hosted and attended classes throughout the year and firmly refuse to be demonstrators even though they would have made stellar ones and saved quite a bit in the process...I'd almost be worried that they are reading this and change their minds but they know about the demonstrator opportunity already and I'd be grateful with them enjoying Stampin' Up! with me as either *beam happily* So to show my appreciation, I made the following notebooks for them:

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Baja Breeze
Basic Gray
Chocolate Chip
Kiwi Kiss

Stamp sets:
Defining alphabet
Gallery
One of a Kind

Paper:
Basic Gray CS
Walk in the Park DSP
Whisper White CS

Accessories:
Baja Breeze Corduroy buttons
Boho Blossoms punch
Button Latte
Brads Jumbo Neutrals
Brads Silver
Chocolate Chip Double-Stitched Grosgrain

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Baja Breeze
Chocolate Chip

Stamp sets:
Best Yet
Gallery
Lovely Letters alphabet

Paper:
Baja Breeze CS
Chocolate Chip CS
Walk in the Park DSP
Whisper White CS

Accessories:
Baja Breeze Corduroy buttons
Boho Blossoms punch
Brads Jumbo Neutrals
Chocolate Chip Grosgrain
Curly Label Punch Bundle
Flower Fusion Too
Heat Tool
White Embossing Powder

Thanks so much, Bonny and Ruth!

Jayne Mercer's Girls Night in Cyberstamp

My terrific upline, Jayne, is holding a Cyberstamp to raise funds for the very worthy cause of breast cancer research.

I thought I would pop in with a contribution to the evening but, as usual, I took a lot longer than anticipated to make this card! So I'm dashing off this post so that I can spend some time with my neglected Hubby. I'll post the supplies list tomorrow [ETA: posted now] but, if you do get the chance, please support Jayne's fundraising effort.

Jayne's first challenge was to CASE a layout from the Stampin' Up! 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalogue. Mine was based on the Spring Song card on page 79.

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Regal Rose
Riding Hood Red

Stamp sets:
Boho Backgrounds
Fifth Avenue Floral

Paper:
Pink Pirouette CS
Pretty In Pink CS
Regal Rose CS
Whisper White CS

Accessories:
Double Stitched Grograin Ribbon in Rose Red
Flower Designer Brads
Flower Fusion Too
Paper Snips
Slot Punch
Stampin' Dimensionals
Stampin' Write Markers in Pretty in Pink and Regal Rose

A pink lighthouse

To me, a lighthouse symbolises "Awareness" as it serves to alert unwary seafarers of dangers hidden nearby. Colour it Pink Ribbon Day pink and it so represents Breast Cancer Awareness, don't you think? Or am I speaking for myself? *looks around*

Well, it seemed like a good idea to me at the time! It still does except for the sting of rejection. *sniffle*

Anyway, the amazingly talented Teneale Williams sent out a request for 6" X 6" pages to compile a book of inspirational quotations for those affected by breast cancer while they visit the Westmead Breast Cancer Clinic and the McGrath Foundation office. You still have time to help her as she is waiting until Monday October 12 for the last submissions.

I chose the Elisabeth Guinot quotation for mine because I believe that we don't really know what we are capable of until we are tested. And I'd like to think that we are chronic underestimators.

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Kiwi Kiss
Pink Pirouette
Rose Red

Stamp sets:
A Great Friend
Eastern Influences
Lovely Letters
Uncharted Territory

Paper:
Pink Pirouette CS
Rose Red CS
Rose Red Prints DSP (retired)
Whisper White CS

Accessories:
Flower Assortment Designer Brads
Mat Pack
Sponge Dauber
Striped Grograin Ribbon in Pink Pirouette
Word Window Punch

PS. The title is Rose Red cardstock cut using the QuicKutz harvest font.

So Saffree

Isn't this month's free (with purchase) So Saffron grosgrain ribbon so perfect for spring and summer projects? Of course, it'd be great for other seasons too (as it is So Saffron) but I doubt that my roll will last until next Autumn. *grin*

I've teamed it up with a Summer Love Rub-On and every time I look at this combination, I want to put on a wide brimmed straw hat and a fresh floral dress then sneak into the closest corn field to run carefree through it. Since I live in the 'burbs, the only accessible farms are those that exist in my mind...most likely a good thing since this romantic notion can't end with me actually being charged for trespassing or collapsing a 100 metres into a row of corn since that's about all my real life stamina would allow. *pictures calling Hubby on my mobile phone to save me when he gets off work and then waiting and waiting* Yep! Much better left in the realms of one's imagination...

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Cameo Coral
Kiwi Kiss
So Saffron

Stamp sets:
Great Friend

Paper:
So Saffron CS
So Saffron Patterns DSP
Whisper White CS

Accessories:
Aqua Painter
Designer Brads Flower Assortment
Mat Pack
Paper Snips
So Saffron Grosgrain Ribbon
Stampin' Write Markers in Cameo Coral, Old Olive, So Saffron
Summer Love Rub-Ons
White Gel Pen

I played around with the petals of the flower brad by filling them in with a white gel pen. The flower centre features a rub-on for contrast. Many thanks to Carol for this month's Elite Challenges card sketch which I've used for this card.

Too late for Mother's Day

this year...Maybe I'll keep it for next year!

I made this card using Dani's colour challenge of Baja Breeze, Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip and Taken with Teal last month. It features my new Marker Over technique - it's new 'cos I've made up a name for it. It involves using a Stampin' Write Marker to accent parts of an image after it has been stamped which is great for jazzing up mono-coloured wheels. You can even add accents of your own ... like dots. I used this terrific (if I may say so myself) technique for my Convention swaps too!

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Certainly Celery

Stamp sets:
Bella's Border
Occasional Greetings

Cardstock:
Baja Breeze
Certainly Celery
Whisper White

Accessories:
Certainly Celery Grosgrain Ribbon
Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon
Filigree Designer Brads
Flower Fusion Too
Ice Circle Rhinestone Brads
Stampin' Write Markers Chocolate Chip, Taken with Teal and Tempting Turquoise

No inkling

Sometimes it is just unfortunate...you are totally immersed in the process of manifesting that grand vision in your mind and you have no idea about the big picture you are setting in motion - the complete picture. For me, here is how it all started...

We recently had an INKlings Cyberstamp hosted by the very effervescent Dani Fender. I haven't been able to take part in a team cyberstamp for a while so I made a little commitment to do hers. One of the challenges was to make an Easter basket inspired by Makeesha Byl. Because I was too time-poor¹ to follow the tutorial, I decided to use a A5 sheet that was lying around for the base and just make the rest up as I go. The grand vision that I had for this project was to use the eyelet punch to emulate the look of broderie anglaise². I also wanted to add ribbon woven through cardstock as it reminds me of trim on pretty lingerie.

As an aside, how great are the new Stampin' Up! Filigree Designer Brads? There is a little round recess in the centre of the filigree flower for a perfectly sized brad to slot in. You can use the ones included or the smallest sized circle rhinestones brads, for example. This makes the whole thing very stable (no wobbling here) once attached to a project.

The thing that did surprise me about the Filigree Designer Brads was the thickness - check it out in the close up.

Back to the saga. Once the basket was completed, I hunted around fruitlessly for some Easter eggs to fill it. Failing that, I found a box of Ferrero Rocher. As it turned out, the basket fit two chocolates abreast perfectly. Which is exactly the problem...the basket now looks like a brassiere! Waaaaaaaaaah! *sniffle* Just don't imagine tipping the Ferrero Rochers so that the labels face the front! Hey! I warned you...

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Certainly Celery
Lavendar Lace

Stamps:
Baroque wheel
Fresh Cuts set
Petal Pizzazz set

Cardstock:
Lavendar Lace
Whisper White

Accessories:
Certainly Celery Grosgrain
Designer Brad Filigree
Double Rectangle Punch
Eyelet Border Punch
Scallop Punch
Small Oval Punch
Stampin' Write Marker in Lavendar Lace
Whisper White Grosgrain

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1. time-poor: an excuse (aka spin) for being impatient and lazy in this case.
2. Broderie Anglaise: French for "English Embroidery". It is rather ironic that a French term is used in English to describe something as English.