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!)

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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.

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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.

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":
Stampin' 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.

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.

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.

Stampin' 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.

Spring Mini is in the air

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!