Ben's Party

Turning 7 was a big event for Ben who has been dreaming and planning his ideal birthday party for months! Whilst we had a family party on the actual day, we had to wait till after school went back to organize his school friends party. I should say with 4 children, we do not do these types of birthday parties each year, which probably explains why Ben was so super excited about his big day this year. Ben's party was at Laser-force, which is a bit of a Brisbane icon as it is the original Laser-force from which many others sprung up around the world. The only sad thing is that it was developed from a disused roller skating rink, so if you know that I used to be a skater you would understand why I am sad about rinks closing.

Funny story about the cake. the girls and I chose a 'Flying Saucer Cake', which was always going to frustrate me as I had no chance of making it look as good as the photograph. The base started off quite well - I opted for a ready made sponge and covered it in blue fondant icing with stars to look like space. Next I had to carve a flying saucer out of sponge and elevate it using cake risers. This is where the problems begun because not only could we not make silver icing for the flying saucer but I learned that you cannot use cake risers on sponge as they tend to sink into the sponge especially during car travel. To cut a long story short, by the time we reached Laser-force the flying saucer had crash landed into the base! Whilst we did our best to prop it back into position, when we lit the candles on the base, one had angled itself under the upper layer and started to cause a fire at the perimeter of the craft - It was pretty funny really. Luckily the cake did not burn down and it stayed up long enough for happy birthday to be sung and the cake cut.

All the children had a great time, including the girls. I've never allowed toy guns at home, so the whole idea of Laser-force was a bit foreign to me. Afterwards the children played some of the arcade games including pin ball and air hockey - so much fun. I was so glad Ben had had his dream party as we could see from the look of his face that he was so so happy!

St Pauls Manly Market Day

Just over a year ago I was asked if I would contribute a stall/display at St Paul's Market Day. One of the lovely things that happened that day was that my friend and fellow demonstrator Jen met Jerry, one of the local parishioners, who then joined our 'Paper Angels' Group of Independent Stampin Up Demonstrators. This year Jen, Jerry and I worked together on the St Paul's Market Day. One of the absolute highlights of this day is the very professional 'sidewalk cafe' known as 'Pauls on Ernest', which serves everything from professional coffee, delicious gourmet breakfasts and delicious handmade cakes. Jerry went to so much effort making the fabulous table numbers, decorating them with stamping and messages inviting people to come and make a complimentary card with us.

St Pauls had a fabulous display of historic Christening Gowns which was very special as well as displays and a fashion parade of wedding gowns over the years. Other attractions included the local school band, Caprice Dancers and of course complimentary Stampin Up Make & Takes. I was able to snap some photos of Jerry and Jen showing how easy and fun stamping is. The wonderful thing was that we had a great range of people stop by and we really enjoyed sharing the cute little card we had all come up with for our make & take.

The rector of St Paul's, Canon Keith Colbert, is quite a character (clearly loved by all the parishioners) and has a way with words. In his welcome flyer he noted 'Fetes are occasions to buy goodies not usually available anywhere else. Proper Coconut Ice and Fudge, padded coat hangers and rag dolls, are not common in the shops, but what would life be without them?'  Indeed, there is something comforting about finding these traditional items, which like hand stamped cards, remind us of the enjoyment of simple pleasures. Thank you Jerry and Jen for all your hard work and inviting me along - it was a lovely morning.

August 2009 Class Schedule

Elizabeth Collett | Independent Demonstrator | Senior Manager | Stampin' Up! Australia

17 Mossvale Dve, Wakerley 4154 | 07 3348 9456 | 0448 896 001 | liz@danichbe.com

Welcome to my class selection for August, inspired by the beautiful new products available in our Spring Mini Catalogue. These classes are all held in my home studio, however, I am happy to run these classes in your home with a minimum of 6 participants.

These classes all include a generous materials pack, full colour instructions & morning/afternoon tea. Each class is strictly limited to 7 participants, so please do book early to avoid disappointment. It would be appreciated if you could either pay by direct deposit or credit card, to secure your booking and enable me to ensure your materials pack is available.

Please bring adhesives (snail, dimensionals, glue dots and sticky strip), scissors, bone folder and cutter to all classes.

If you are unable to come, but would like a class kit with instructions, I am happy to post it to you – please add $5 for postage irrespective of the number of kits ordered

If you are a 'Paper Angels Group' Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, you are also welcome to book a place in these classes. Simply provide your own materials. Cost will be $5. If you would like information on how to become a discount demonstrator, please contact me.

Paper Patchwork $25

Thursday 30^th July 10am till 12 midday

Saturday 1^st August 2 till 4pm

Create a striking 12x12 scrapbooking page, suitable as a framed page or addition to your family scrapbook. In this class you will learn 'easy to use' techniques to create scrapbooking pages inspired by patchwork, featuring the gorgeous Urban Garden and Urban Oasis Designer Series Papers.

Each participant will receive ½ pack of Urban Garden DSP, ½ pack of Urban Oasis DSP, 1 metre of Baja Breeze Wide Double Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon and Whisper White Cardstock. There will be enough left over DSP to create a further 5 patchwork pages!

Pink Flamingo Double Page Layout $35

Thursday 6^th August 10am till 1pm

Saturday 8^th August 2pm till 5pm

Make a bright, happy, double page layout using our stunning Pink Flamingo Designer Series paper. Learn how to make a cute journalling pocket and designer accents using Crystal Effects.

Each participant will receive a full pack of 'Pink Flamingo DSP, one 12x12 Riding Hood Red Cardstock, one A4 Riding Hood Red Cardstock, Summer Sun A4, exclusive white dotty voile, 2 x A4 Whisper White Cardstock, ½ pack of 'Flower' Designer Brads, 1/8 Ribbon Share of 'Dress Up' Ribbon Originals and 1 metre Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon.

Designing With Paper $60

Thursday 13^th August 10am till 2pm

Sunday 16^th August 2pm till 6pm

Learn how to use scrapbooking paper with flair! In this class you will make 2 gorgeous advanced patchwork scrapbooking pages, plus 2 stunning woven cards featuring our beautiful 'Summer Love' Rub Ons.

Each participant will receive a full pack of 'Walk in the Park' DSP, Baja Breeze Corduroy Buttons, 2 x Basic Gray 12x12, 2 x Whisper White A4, 2 x Baja Breeze A4, ½ pack of 'Summer Love' Rub Ons, and Taffeta Pink Ribbon.

Walk in the Park Scrapbook Page $30

Thursday 27^th August 10am till 12midday

Sunday 30^th August 2pm till 4pm

If you love 'pretty' then this layout class is for you. Combining prettty pink taffeta ribbon and designer buttons with the gorgeous 'Walk in the Park' Designer Series Paper, you will want to recreate this design time and time again.

Each participant will receive a ½ pack of 'Walk in the Park' DSP, pink taffeta ribbon, a designer button share and sheet of dimensionals. Thee will be plenty of left over material to complete another page.

'Walk in the Park' Designer Series Paper Coming Soon

Isn't this the most gorgeous scrapbooking paper ever? It is called 'Walk in the Park' and will be available to order from our Spring Mini Catalogue, which runs from August 1st till November 30th. I had a great time creating this page on a fabulous craft retreat, which Leonie organised last weekend at Tamborine Mountain. I was surprised how many pages I was able to achieve, however, I will put it down to Stampin' Up's Color Coordinated Products in combination with not having to do anything else (all meals etc were provided and very yummy they were too). The page features some photographs taken at Dreamworld a couple of years ago. I found it really easy to find photos to match this beautiful paper and because it is double sided, there are lots of choices.

Dichroic Glass Pendants

Dichroic Glass Pendants is another passion of mine, having been introduced by a fellow Paper Angels Stampin' Up! Demonstrator Fiona, who now lives in Townsville. We would have loved Fiona to be there and we look forward to her visits back to Brisbane. Kathy, Amanda, Olga, Allison, Jess, Ursula and myself had a lovely time creating some new pendants. Afterwards some of us headed down to Cafe la Mer. It was a bit cool down by the water but the cafe had a little stash of polar fleece blankets for us, one of which Amanda is modelling. All the girls made beautiful pendants, with mine looking quite amateurish next to all my fellow glass artists. I will try to load up some pictures of the pendants that we made. 

Cupcake Creations

Yes - it is possible - calorie free cupcakes! Visually spectacular, I suspect the taste factor may be lacking. Due to an odd set of circumstances, I have quite a lot of 'Close to Cocoa' Cardstock and had resigned myself to working through a lifetime stash! Luckily this wonderful project came to my attention and what does every dedicated crafter do when presented with a project like this - drop everything and make it of course! What gorgeous bomboneirres or simply a beautiful decoration. If you would like details on how to make these irresistible creations, please email me liz@danichbe.com