'Lively Leaves' Leaving

'Gone - flitted away,

Taken from the night and the sun

From the day!

Gone, and a cloud in my heart.'

Alfred Tennyson

Continuing with my March theme of showcasing retiring stamp sets, we bid farewell on March 31st to 'Lively Leaves' (108861 $29.95 AUD), which may be found on page 86 of the 2007/2008 Australian Idea Book & Catalogue. This is a great little set, with individual stamps 'standing alone as in the above sample or used as a two step stamping technique. I really like this stamp set, beacause it works for either male or female cards. In fact the card featured above was made by myself, at the request of my husband as he required some thank you cards that he could send.

The card base is simply Chocolate Chip, with two thirds of the front face torn off. I have then mounted a Confetti White liner stamped with leaves overlayed with vellum paper, under the torn flap. I find that the vellum overlay works well to soften stamped images. Circle of Friendship (108767 $33.95AUD), which is not being retired has been used to stamp a jumbo brad.

If you would like any further information on these projects, or would like to order these stamp sets, please contact me at liz@nb.com.au or alternately phone me on 07 3348 9456 or 0448 896 001. I am offering 2 special bonuses to customers who spend $100 this month, so don't miss out on your last opportunity to secure retiring sets.

Images © Stampin' Up!

Goodbye 'Mixed Bouquet'

'How lucky I am to have something

that makes saying goodbye so hard'

Carol Sobieski and Thomas Meehan, Annie

Fortunately we do not have to say goodbye to chocolate, however, we must farewell two beautiful stamps on March 31st to make way for new catalogue stamp sets and accessories. Mixed Bouquet (108871 $68.95AUD) and Bouquet Jumbo Wheel (105750 $15.95 AUD) are both to be found on page 74 of the 2007/2008 Australian Idea Book & Catalogue. I am particularly fond of these stamps and have used them at many workshops, including my February workshops where we made a 'Pull Treat Pouch'. This project was inspired by a workshop by Beate Johns on Split Coast Stampers Web Site www.splitcoaststampers.com and altered to accomodate our Australian Darrel Lea chocolate bars and the stamps sets that I had available. It was great fun making this project as it was quite straightforward, requiring no template, with a fantastic result. The only hard part was making sure workshop participants did not eat their chocolate bar, before completing the project!

Images @ Stampin' Up!

Farewell 'Flower Fest'

'Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending'

Lazurus Long

Whilst we look forward to the release of our new Australian 2008/2009 Catalogue in April, we must also say farewell to a huge number of stamp sets and accessories that we love. Stampin' Up! have released the 'retired list', which may be viewed on www.stampinup.com . These items will not be availble after the 31st of March and in fact are only available whilst stocks last.

I have featured two retiring stamp sets in the matching scrapbook page and card above. 'Flower Fest' (108812 $69.95 AUD) includes 12 coordinated floral and leaf stamps and may be found on page 71 of the 2007/2008 catalogue. 'Simple Sayings 11' (108911 $39.95 AUD), includes 4 very useful word stamps perfect for both cards and scrapbooking, and may be found on page 114 of the 2007/2008 catalogue.

Featured cardstock and ink colours are Not Quite Navy, Rose Red, Regal Rose, Confetti White and Whisper White. I have stamped the background flower with Rose Red Ink on Regal Rose Cardstock, followed by the flower outline in embossed white craft ink. I have then smothered 2 of the flowers in Versamark Ink, covered entirely with clear embossing powder and used a heat gun to achieve the glassy surface. This technique provides texture and variation on the scrapbook page.

If you would like any further information on these projects, or would like to order these stamp sets, please contact me at liz@nb.com.au or alternately phone me on 07 3348 9456 or 0448 896 001. I am offering 2 special bonuses to customers who spend $100 this month, so don't miss out on your last opportunity to secure retiring sets.

Images © Stampin' Up!