Telling Tall Tales

OK I've been sprung! I gave a half-hearted undertaking that the notebook for Jillian would be the last one that I'd post for a while but I truly couldn't help myself. When I recently opened up my pack of Tall Tales DSP to cut some samples for my team and myself, I saw the little zebras riding aloft on their striped balloons and I just had to use it to make something for my nephew Shi Wei's birthday. As it turns out, it was a notebook and here it is:

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Chocolate Chip

Stamp sets:
Hello Again

Paper:
Chocolate Chip CS
So Saffron CS
Tall Tales DSP
Whisper White CS

Accessories:
2-Way Glue Pen
Bone Folder
Paper Snips
Sticky Strip



I used the Quickutz Katie font for his name.

My auntie Kim recollected an exchange that she had with Shi Wei the last time she visited. Whenever he was asked what he did at pre-kindy, he would coyly reply "Nothing". My aunt's attempts to coax more out of him with a "You can't do nothing all day at pre-kindy!" would be met with a laugh from him followed by an enigmatic smile.

I suspect that this evasion may be due to his realisation that anything he likes can be withheld if he misbehaves! But I digress...

So, my aunt laid a rather clever trap for him with a tall tale in the following conversation:

Auntie Kim: Shi Wei, what did you do today at pre-kindy?
Shi Wei: Nothing.
Auntie Kim: Well, I know what you did because I came to see you.
Shi Wei: But I didn't see you there!
Auntie Kim: I was hiding behind the fence and I could see you but you couldn't see me. I saw you singing.
Shi Wei [surprised]: Oh!
Auntie Kim: I saw you running.
Shi Wei [even more surprised]: Oh!
Auntie Kim: I saw you playing.
Shi Wei [crestfallen at being found out]: Oh!

Poor little thing ... after that, he's an open book ... when it comes to pre-kindy activities at any rate *grin*

Parisian Breeze breezes by

I just had to post this little album before the Spring Mini ends. I made this for my cousin Kelvin and it features the truly inspiring Parisian Breeze Specialty paper that will be saying goodbye with the Mini. The cardweight is perfect for this album and everything about this paper makes me want to make stuff out of it!

Stampin' Supplies
Paper:
Kraft CS
Parisian Breeze Specialty
Whisper White CS

Accessories:
Basic Eyelets (retired)
Crop-A-Dile
Double-Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon in Chocolate Chip
Flower Fusion Too
Hemp Twine
Jumbo Brads in Neutrals
Trio Flower Punch




Don't you love how the Trio Flower Punch creates a punchie that layers perfectly on the Flower Fusion Too five petalled flower?

I've used a Quickutz Peppermint Spine die to make things easier but you could replicate it with a scallop edge punch and Crop-A-Dile. I also used a Cuttlebug Floral Borders die for the corner flourishes. The Kraft panel is actually a little pocket in which a photo can be inserted as the centrepiece of the album.

SNAIL mail

Jillian, my sister demonstrator, recently RAK'ed the INKlings with an offer SNAIL in the mail - which I kinda pounced on. I say "kinda" because it sounds marginally better than the unadulterated "pounced on" which is pretty much the truth (and I say "pretty much" for the same reason as I used "kinda"!). For her tremendous generosity, I thought I'd give her a notebook...I imagine you all must be completely over my covered notebooks by now so this will be my last for a little while...that is, if I can help it!

The colourful foliage sheet from the Walk in the Park DSP is my favourite from the pack and I used it for a notebook so that I could keep it and stroke it. Of course, it was covered in plastic so that my stroking would leave no fingerprints on the paper. Also, I didn't think that the book needed anything more in terms of embellishment since the pattern and colours of the DSP make enough of a statement.

Due to Jillian's RAK, I decided to part with this so that it would have an exciting new home to experience and be heartfelt thanks for her favour. So farewell notebook ... and thank you, Jillian!

Stampin' Supplies
Paper:
Cameo Coral CS
Walk in the Park DSP

Accessories:
Eyelet Border Punch
So Saffron Grosgrain Ribbon

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!

Taking note

... and giving notebooks. Other than blinging jumbo brads, I've been busy decorating notebooks as gifts for some noteworthy people in my life. The first one was a birthday gift to Joni, who has been a friend from the first full time job I ever had in Sydney. Being a technologist, I'm not sure if she will get much use out of this but it may come in handy for making paper aeroplanes or writing messages to be inserted into bottles should she ever happen to be stranded on a deserted island. You just never know when a piece of paper may save your life!

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Chocolate Chip
Close to Cocoa
Sahara Sand

Stamp sets:
Defining alphabet
Lovely Letters alphabet
No One Like You

Cardstock:
Chocolate Chip
Kraft
Whisper White

Accessories:
Antique Brass Jumbo Eyelets
Chocolate Chip Double-Stitched Grosgrain
Crop-A-Dile
Eyelet Border Punch
Stamp-A-Ma-Jig

Travel notebook

Hubby and I have just returned from a wonderful jaunt to Phillip Island to attend the wedding of a dear friend and his lady love. The weather was fine and hot (perhaps a little too warm as my decolletage now looks like I dropped a tub of red blush all over it) and the garden setting, with Westernport Bay as the backdrop, was beautiful. The highlight for me was their exchange of vows, which they composed themselves - touching, sweet and so very moving. I have to keep their names secret or I'd have to erase this blog after posting and, well, that'd just defeat the whole purpose of posting! But I'm wishing them lots of love and laughter as they head into their first holiday season in married bliss.

Accompanying me during this memorable trip was this little notebook that I decorated using a standard exercise book. After embellishing the cover, I slipped the book into a plastic cover to protect it from spills and stains. I then used White StazOn to stamp a damask pattern on the plastic cover to add a little more interest and light. Because I'm me, I used the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig and lots of ruled lines to make sure the pattern was even...

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Certainly Celery
Lavender Lace
Perfect Plum
StazOn Cotton White

Stamp sets:
24-7
All Scallops
Lovely Letters
No One Like You

Cardstock:
Certainly Celery
Whisper White
Pale Plum
Perfect Plum

Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch Stamp-A-Ma-Jig	[back of the notebook]
Stampin' Write Markers in:    Certainly Celery    Pale Plum    Perfect Plum

More than a tea bag bag

The second challenge set by Fiona during last month's cyberchallenge was to make a super adorable bag from a template available through the Stampin' Up! Australia demonstrators' website. Have a squizz at her very fresh and pretty version. I think the bag is awesome but it really needed some space to be more versatile. As it was, I could only imagine it being a bag to put tea bags in. I mean how much tea can a tea bag bag bag if a tea bag bag could bag tea??! In short, not much!

So, I adjusted the template a little to add some depth to the top flap and now it fits more tea to a 'T' ... or should that be fits to a 'T' more tea ... anyway ...

The top flap now also accommodates a teensy (possibly tea-nsy handle). I've found grosgrain ribbons work well but in this prototype I splurged on some pretteas ... um ... pretties! Isn't it a cu-tea? More like a cue for me to tee-off!

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Tangerine Tango

Stamp sets:
Trendy Trees

Paper:
Haiku DSP
Tangerine Tango CS
Very Vanilla CS

Accessories:
Earth Elements Brads
Felt Fusion
Linen Thread
Paper Snips
Pretties Kit
Word Window Punch

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

---

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.

Embellishmenthoarderism

My name is Lin Mei and I am an embellishmenthoarderholic.

I'd join Embellishmenthoarderholics Anonymous but they are so anonymous that I can't locate them. Nope - not listed in the Yellow Pages, not hiding in the local Rotary Club, not even a single match returned by Google. I tried looking for them in craft forums but, to be honest, it's like looking for an AA meeting in a bar. After hearing about everyone's rave reviews of the happy hour jumbo eyelets and the amazing buzz you get from your fourth shot of Flower Fusion, it's enough to drive anyone to drink and submit that hundredth online order!

And then the waiting begins...all the items in my stash suddenly lose their lustre because something newer and shinier and eminently more desirable is heading my way. But I try to persevere with the next project to take the edge off. But that is when the real problem emerges. What can I use? Do I dare to use two out of the three 4 cm felt flowers that I have in Old Olive - what if I need two for a scrapbook page without which rhythm would be completely impossible? Should I dip into my collection of Rich Regal brads? I only have the 200 (and that is approximately!) in their unopened container - what if they are retired soon? Could I even imagine life without Rose Red round bits of metal? Aaaarrgghh!

Anyway, I came up with an idea to use some of my embellishments - I've altered my 2009 diary so that these embellishments can accompany me wherever I go. Also, most of the embellishments have been attached through brads ... which means that in a craft emergency, I always have the option of looting this diary! Ingenious, no?! Reusing the rub-on could prove tricky, however.

I was really happy that I got to use the boing¹ in the elasticized ribbon from my precious pack of Theatre Ribbon Originals. It holds my diary closed and can be used as a bookmark in a pinch.
Stampin' Supplies
Paper:
Bali Breeze DSP

Accessories:
Circle Rhinestone Brads in Fire, Ice
Eastern Elegance Rub-Ons
Flower Fusion
Scallop Edge Punch
Styled Silver Hodgepodge
Theatre Ribbon Originals
White Gel Pen

The second photo was supposed to be an arty shot of the cover but as you can see the focus was not quite at the front of the picture. I'd take another shot but I am waiting for the parcel guy and that requires my full attention...*runs off to check the front door in case the order has arrived*

---

1. boing: elasticity. Derived from the imagined sound of pulling something rubbery

Teres(a) charm

It's my wonderful friend Teresa's birthday today - she and I have been friends since fourth grade primary school. Even though we now live in different states in Australia, whenever we get together, it's like we haven't been apart. Many happy returns, Teresa!

Amazingly this year, Teresa's special day has coincided with both Chinese New Year [Gong Xi Fa Cai!] and Australia Day [Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oi Oi Oi! - please don't ask me where that originated from] which just confirms that everything comes in threes. That makes today a day of celebration for a multitude of reasons and for many people - so I hope you enjoy this grand day for whatever it means to you.

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Purely Pomegranate
Ruby Red

Stamp sets:
Embrace Life

Paper:
Dashing DSP
Ginger Blossom DSP
Groovy Guava Textured CS
Very Vanilla CS

Accessories:
Earth Elements Brads
Paper Snips
Scallop Edge Punch
Stamp-A-Ma-Jig

2009

May it be divine or, at the very least, benign.

Happy New Year + a week, everyone! I hope that you have really enjoyed the recent festivities - it was a little welcome escape from the rather sombre economic climate that we are bracing ourselves for. I know this sounds like a romantic notion but I reckon that the threat of downsizing is actually a wake-up call to rediscover what is truly of value to us.

I think back to all those countless shopping trips that Hubby (even before he was Hubby - pre-Hubby if you will) faithfully accompanied me on where I was completely focused on the latest perfume collectible/shoes/clothes/bags/SALE whilst poor pre-Hubby would have 15 minutes of pleasurable distraction at Electronics Boutique followed by three hours of ... well... following. Can you imagine what sort of debt I accrued in doing so?

Once I take into account interest, it is a lifetime of going bicycling when Hubby wants to, playing side-kick to Hubby's leading characters in shoot 'em up computer games and watching every recorded episode of Air Crash Investigations. Funnily enough, though, paying him back means spending quality time with him and that's what really matters.

As for all those baubles that I used to collect, I still enjoy window shopping (and visiting our storage unit) once in a while. But, with the time I now have, I'd much rather make something.

Wishing you a creative and connected 2009!

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
StazOn Black

Stamps:
For Father set

Paper:
Brilliant Blue Prints DSP
Brilliant Blue Textured CS
Old Olive CS
Old Olive Prints DSP
Watercolor paper

Accessories:
Anchored Rub-Ons
Aquapainter
Eastern Elegance Rub-Ons
Watercolor Wonder Crayons in Earth Elements

Lucky as a door

I've just been wondering what it is about doors that make them so lucky that they are associated through the term "Lucky Door Prize". Perhaps luck was associated with doors after a large number of people survived an earthquake by staying in doorways...

And, strangely, even though this term is widely used, the phrase "lucky as a door" hasn't quite made it into the vernacular. I suppose it is yet another mystery to add to my list of things to Google when there's nothing else to do and I remember what is actually on this list.

This post is really a little teaser for the Papercrafts Festival being held at Canterbury Park Racecourse which starts this Friday (October 31) and finishes on Sunday (November 2). I'll be there with four amazing Stampin' Up! demonstrators to show off Stampin' Up!'s tremendous products along with various useful papercraft techniques. There will be Christmas make and takes, Pick-A-Prize with every bundle purchase and, of course, the ubiquitous Lucky Door Prize (in fact, six all up, as we are giving away two each day)! The prize pictured above is the one that I'm contributing. Please come to visit us there and, if you are as lucky as a door, you could go home with something smashing for your stash.

Just a thought...

and not much else! It was awesome Belinda's birthday recently and I gave her a gift bag and a card and that was it. Pretty bad, huh?

OK OK...I wasn't THAT awful. We had a delicious (although a tad salty) lunch of rigatoni and scallops followed by a refreshing strawberries and vanilla bean mascarpone dessert (which would have tasted rather strange if served in a gift bag). I also promised her an item that I'm expecting will be in the next Stampin' Up! mini catalogue.

For the matching gift bag and birthday card, I used a few non-Stampin' Up! supplies including Quickutz Blossom font, Fiskars Sunburst punch and Provocraft large eyelets with grommets. I also used just a thought out of the three in the Three Thoughts Simply Sent Kit. I have to say that whilst this is not the fanciest of the Simply Sent Kits, I think that it would be the most versatile because of its excellent sentiment stamps. I'll post what I make with the kit tomorrow - and of course, there's only two days and a bit to save 20% off these delightful packages!

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Close to Cocoa

Stamps:
Three Thoughts Simply Sent Kit

Paper:
Apple Cider DSP
Dashing DSP
Naturals Ivory CS
Very Vanilla CS

Accessories:
Crop-A-Dile
Double Rectangle Punch
Tangerine Grosgrain Ribbon
Wild Wasabi Double-Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon

Kari Favour

It certainly has been a week of papercrafting for me with hardly any time left for blogging or, even, blog lapping (as Sue Madex funnily punnily puts it). To start it all off: the INKlings monthly cyberstamp on Saturday night - a series of challenges set by the lovely Kari Hughes. First up was a pyramid favour box, to be made in a colour of my choice with the proviso that it be a colour that I rarely use. *sigh* I'd almost rather that it be a colour selected by someone else since there would be chance of it NOT being Really Rust.

I've tried to contemplate why I struggle with Really Rust. Is it because it is reddy-orange? Isn't just being orangey enough to put me off? Is it because I don't like rust or tetanus shots? Let me tell you that I find this rather disappointing since I considered myself an equal opportunity colourist. All colours are created equal. Unfortunately, though, some colours are in harmony with a greater number of colours than others.

Hmmmmmmm...so does that mean that it's not really me, after all.... that it's really Really Rust?! Needless to say, such ruminations get in the way of productivity and this was the only challenge that I finished on the night. I knew I didn't like Really Rust for a reason...
Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Brocade Blue
Groovy Guava
Really Rust

Stamps:
Baroque Border wheel
Baroque Motifs set

Cardstock:
Naturals Ivory

Accessories:
Crop-A-Dile
Earth Elements Eyelets
Bluebird Grosgrain
Pumpkin Pie Grosgrain
Sponge Daubers

Did you notice the generational stamping with a wheel?

If you love Really Rust, please help me to appreciate it too by commenting on the reasons why one should lust Really Rust. Kari, thank you for an excellent challenge!

A veek of Carol-link

Da! My Russian is very veak. [Who am I kidding? It is non-existent but I loved the pun on carolling.]

Gee, I can't quite believe that it has been a week since I posted the first challenge from the June INKlings cybercrop hosted by INKantationer Carol. The last of the three challenges, that she had set, was to make a box. I based mine on a pattern that she referenced from Kelly Lunceford. But, since I was too lazy to convert from inches to centimetres and too cheap to cut up a brand new piece of A4 cardstock, I used a couple of large offcuts and modified to suit the size of the scraps. As they say, "Laziness is the mother of invention"...or was that "father"? ... or maybe "necessity"? Da! Vatever!

The pristine white flower is from a Stampin' Up! Pretties Kit and a Chocolate Chip scallop was embossed using a Goosebumpz Flourish die for the corner. Love note envelopes fit perfectly in the box, which is why I've used the same design for eScaping. спасибо Comrade Carol!

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Chocolate Chip
Stamps:
Scatter Sunshine wheel
Cardstock:
Kraft
Old Olive
Accessories:
Chocolate Chip Grosgrain
Double-Sided Tape
Pretties Kit
Scallop Punch
White Gel Pen
White Grosgrain

Container challenge

Continuing on the INKlings May cyberstamp, the third challenge was a One Sheet Box by the inventive Beate Johns. Just to confuse things, I made this project second. Actually, the reason I left the first challenge for last is that I still have to find some photos for a scrapbook layout. Anyway, here's my attempt:
Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Close to Cocoa
Purely Pomegranate

Stamps:
Artfully Asian set
Boho Backgrounds set
Carte Postale set
En Français background

Cardstock:
Close to Cocoa
Purely Pomegranate
River Rock
Very Vanilla

Accessories:
Antique Brass Hodgepodge
Purely Pomegranate Double-Stitched Grosgrain
Scallop Punch
Very Vanilla Grosgrain

The real challenge, imho, is in coming up with an appropriate name for this container. I mean, is it a box or a bag? Since it seems to be a cross between the two, should it called a bax or a bog? Well, since bog is already taken, I bags¹ bax. But bax sounds like "backs" and could lead to confusing craft conversations such as -

Lin Mei: Hey, how did you make your bax?
Buffy: Huh? I only have one back and I certainly didn't make it.

Lin Mei: Excuse me, would you please pass my red bax from over there?
Miss Muffet: Are you nuts? I'm not touching any spiders², especially poisonous ones!

Lin Mei: Holy aadvark snacks, Batman! There are ants all over your bax!
Batman & Robin: *trying to look at backs whilst flicking off imagined insects* Wha...where?

Lin Mei: Oooh, girlfriend! Your bax side is just amazing.
Beyoncé: *slap* Stop that, you perv!

I think I'll just stick to calling it a container for the moment.

---

1. Bags - Australian and British slang for laying claim to something first.
2. Redbacks - Dangerous spiders native to Australia. Scary looking too! Although their colour combination is particularly striking...

Overcoming the tendency to hoard pretty paper

I don't know about you but I have an awful time using scrapbooking supplies. I mean, how ironic is it, that some of the most beautiful paper available to humankind is for "scrapping"?! OK...it is just a terminology thing...after all, what we scrap we are meant to keep. *boggle*

Anyway, I have a gorgeous collection of Basic Grey paper in storage because I know that I'll never use it - not because I don't want to, but because I can't bring myself to cut the paper up and not have the potential of using it for something else more worthy. I took to buying three sheets of everything, in all available colour combinations, so that the option of doing a two page colour co-ordinated layout and having a little extra for embellishments was always there. I now have a mountain of scrapping material ready for that momentous life changing event that requires two-and-a-half pieces of patterned paper that I have luckily already bought...the only problem is that I don't know which patterned paper that is and, so, I have to keep all of it unused and in pristine condition...just in case.

Thank goodness I've now discovered the freedom that comes with making my own patterned paper. I never have to worry about hoarding three copies of everything since I can make extra whenever the need arises. And, if it turns out that I need more for a matching tag, altered pencil tin and covered gift box...no problem! I'll whip out my stamps, ink, daubers and what-not and ... voilà! ... a perfect quantity of matching patterned paper. Needless to say, hubby must be ecstatic that he's no longer crowded out of the house by encroaching hordes of pretty paper. From now on, it will be just the odd incursion, since who can stop buying the stuff altogether?

This is the final post for my blog declared Patterned Paper Week. Funnily enough, it coincides with National Scrapbooking Day in the US (March 3) and it just so happens that my project for my last homemade piece of patterned cardstock is to cover a mini scrap journal.
Additional Stampin' Supplies
Stamps:
Greetings Galore set
Ink and Cardstock:
Ballet Blue
Accessories:
Antique Brass Hodgepodge Hardware
Bluebird Grosgrain ribbon
Chocolate Grosgrain ribbon
Crop-A-Dile
Moss Gingham Check ribbon
Red Gingham Check ribbon
Taupe Grosgrain ribbon
Very Vanilla Grosgrain ribbon

Happy National Scrapbooking Day to those readers popping in from the US!

Update 2:58pm
It seems that it was National Scrapbooking Day in Canada too! So, belated wishes to Canadian readers. Perhaps it should be called North American Scrapbooking Day instead OR, even better, International Scrapbooking Day, in which case all of us can join in. Oh, scrap that! Every day should be a card-making and scrapbooking day...

Under wraps

So, here it is...a little wrapped something-or-other. I'm sure that, if you are a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, you'll know what it could be BUT please don't tell!
I'm making this into a little competition for Australian subscribers of my newsletter. I'd offer it to subscribers everywhere except that I can't give you the planned prize since Stampin' Up! Australia won't deliver overseas.

To win one of these in your June order, you have to guess what it is in May! I want the exact item number from the current Idea Book & Catalogue. No prizes for "something-or-other", "that thingy for doing you know what" or "you know the one" (yes I do, but do you? *raise eyebrow*). I'll detail the competition rules in the May newsletter...and that's a wrap.

Au lait!

The shackles of being shaped have been lifted! To celebrate, I'm posting a milkshake shape - a tiny milk carton specifically. Made for a team challenge, this is based on a tutorial by Beate Johns. The repeated words on the label took a lot of Stamp-A-Ma-Jigging! As usual, I couldn't resist using a scalloped edge die cut and my trusty Cuttlebug Textile embossing folder for added texture.

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Chocolate Chip
Not Quite Navy
Sage Shadow
Very Vanilla Craft (retired)

Stamps:
Carte Postale set
Leaves à la Carte wheel

Cardstock:
Chocolate Chip
Not Quite Navy
Sage Shadow
Very Vanilla

Accessories:
Chocolate Grosgrain Ribbon
Stamp-A-Ma-Jig

Boxing up Boxing Week

Boxing Week is coming to an end ... and it is closing with a Pyramid Box (quite apt in a macabre sort of way). I used a Mirkwood Designs pyramid box template with a couple of modifications. The original template only has one tuck-in tab but I added one to each side of the base to increase its rigidity and to keep the contents from spilling out. The other change was to insert a slot into the middle tuck-in tab and two slots into the matching side so that the box could be sealed with a ribbon. The inset shows the bottom of the box - where the sentiment can be found.

I hope that you had a great Boxing Week and it's only two more days before the new SU! Idea Book & Catalogue is launched.


Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Basic Brown
Elegant Eggplant

Stamps:
Artfully Asian set

Cardstock:
Very Vanilla

Accessories:
Cream Grosgrain Ribbon
Watercolor Pencils