'Double Duty' Kitchen Tools - Well Maybe!

I actively encourage my children to use my Stampin' Up! tools and materials, however, sometimes the line in the sand moves a little too far! My 10 year old daughter, Nicole, loves to bake and believe me, this is great help with 4 children constantly looking for lunchbox treats! I was very impressed when she created these bumblebee cakes, using the wide oval punch to create bee wings from acetate. Thankfully she did have the foresight to put the wings in after baking! Can you just imagine the alternative....Anyway, you may notice in the background of the photo I had to steel myself not to explode when my felt flowers were used to decorate cake tops! Argggh. Luckily for Nicole, these were all salvageable after the event - of course Nicole would have us believing that that was the plan all along! Hmmmm.

November Hostess Draw

Taking a leaf out of my friend Leonie's book, I thought I would photograph the drawing of my November Hostess Draw. Each of my lovely hostesses in November received a little pink box containing 2 rolls of Stampin Up ribbon as well as a stamp. As an added bonus, these hostesses then went in the draw for a paper rack, cardstock pack and gorgeous Rose Red Ribbon Roll!

As it happened, I had 2 scouts on hand to assist me. Nicole and Christian (my two middle children) were getting ready for their Scout Christmas Concert tonight! You can see that Christian was looking very upright to begin with, but this deteriorated into uncontrolled hysterics when I asked Nicole to lift her chin as she looked as if she had 6 chins. This, as you can see, was pretty funny for a 9 year old boy. But I digress - the winner of the major prize is the lovely Janette Taylor!

Our Piano Christmas Tree

I thought I would share my first fully decorated tree this year. Our main tree, whilst assembled, is still waiting to be decorated. I really enjoy having a couple of different trees because I can decorate each to a particular theme. In the case of the piano tree (it sits on our piano!) I can decorate it in gold with an antique old world Christmas theme. I made the 8 cross stitch ornaments when life was not quite so busy (before I had 4 children) and I can't really imagine adding to it anytime soon. The book I took the designs from was called '101 Christmas Quickies' - such a poor choice of book title on so many levels, not least of all that there was nothing quick about making them! So isn't it handy that I have a smaller tree to put them on as on the bigger tree they are lost.

Clean & Simple Ski Slope DSP

This is one of my favourite photographs from my skating archive. Whilst studying at university in Melbourne one of my part time jobs was that of an Artistic Skating Coach. The highlight of each year was the Christmas Show, where we all had the chance to create routines to entertain family and friends as well as give all skaters the opportunity to participate and have fun. In 1990 I created a routine based on the story of the 'Fantastic Toy Shop', where toys came alive at night. Jenny and Daniel Nisi played the lead characters, Tina and Pepe, along with some other gorgeous children and one adult who played the Toy Shop Owner.

Now I have the pleasure of pulling that photo out of my skating box to preserve and present it as one of my Christmas Memories. Certainly not a complicated page, I really like the bright colours and clean lines, created with the addition of Ski Slope Designer Series Paper (DSP). The Double Striped Baja Breeze Grosgrain Ribbon and Corduroy Button add a touch of whimsy. Both the 'Ski Slope' DSP and the Cordoroy Buttons are in the Spring Mini Catalogue, which ends on November 30th.

Bravo Burgundy Christmas

With school holidays fast approaching and most of my Christmas Card Workshops completed, it's time to get some of my own projects done. The good news is that I hope to have a stream of great ideas that will inspire you to join me in making this one of the most creative and meaningful Christmas's yet. I have made a pact to hand make many of my presents and I also look forward to sharing those.

I have an 8x8 album which I am using just to scrapbook Christmas Photos taken over the years. The first page I have made is very simple and features a lovely photograph taken way back in 1995 during our Christmas Honeymoon, which included a visit to Disneyland. The Christmas Parade was nothing short of spectacular and I am so pleased that we went during this time. It was easy to choose the Bravo Burgundy background as this colour features prominently in the photograph as well as having a 'ye olde world' feeling. Of course I couldn't help using my 'So Swirly' Stampin Around Wheel which is definitely my most frequently used stamp by far! The Basic Grey Taffeta Ribbon looks really classic with the burgundy, whilst the 'Ski Slope' Designer Series Paper adds a bit of colour and fun to lift the page. I also made a little favour box, which I have been demonstrating in my workshops using the same colour combination of Bravo Burgundy, Basic Grey and Whisper White. This little box is easily embellished using the 'Curly Label Punch Bundle' which includes a matching stamp set and hand held punch.

Stampin' Up! Incentive Trip

Yes, I was one of 31 lucky demonstrators from Australia and New Zealand to earn the 2009 Incentive Trip to Noosa - right here in my backyard! I guess I am about the last of the achieving demonstrators to post this event onto my blog, so many apologies for that. We had a fabulous time, however, you can imagine the work that went into my husband and I leaving 4 children for 5 days as well as the catching up afterwards. This of course would not have been possible without the irreplaceable, wonderful and kind Godmother to our children, Bronwyn. Bronwyn drove up from Sydney to care for 4 children aged 7 through to 12 - she is an Angel and Superhero. The photos I am posting are a small collection of my personal snaps and I have just noticed that other demonstrators have shared some more on line - never-mind, I have already collaged these and really I must just get on and put these up before I am lynched or it is simply too late!

Arriving at the Sheraton on Wednesday after lunch, my husband and I felt so strange - even the car trip up felt weird - where were the fights in the back seat & the 'are we there yet' statements? - if you've ever travelled in the car with kids, you'll know what I mean. Highlights of the first day were learning we had an ocean view room, finding a chocolate shop next door, the welcome dinner and our cute 'Tart and Tangy' Apron Gift for our cooking adventure the next day. Also exciting was that not only were Shelli, Sterling, Aaron and Karen there but Dave the VP of Stampin' Up/International Sales was also there with his lovely wife Jennifer on her first Australian trip.

Our first group activity was the following day, which was 'assisting' in preparing our own lunch with the guidance of chefs at Ricki's Restaurant on the Noosa River. Nicki and I were in charge of the pasta machine - between the two of us we had lots of laughs, inadvertently disassembling the machine and almost rolling gloved fingers through the rollers!

We were all divided into different teams, so some were on chocolate truffle duty, whilst the rest of us found their left overs in the kitchen afterwards! Licking the chocolate truffle bowl was certainly more appealing than eating left over uncooked pasta! I just love Robyn's hands! Have you noticed the cutlery - Stampin' Up! detail all the way!

This was my first attempt to have a decent photo taken with Shelli - a virtual impossibility I have discovered after 3 years! I really tried this time - I got that hair straightener out, but 2 hours later the humidity had done its worst and there I was all frizzy again - Leonie, what that new hair product again? I'm desperate! Shelli repositioned me between her and Sterling after this shot, but sadly a full on view was simply not flattering - made sense then that gourmet ice cream followed the make & take, which is where this photo was taken.

The farewell dinner was AMAZING and no one guessed what the evening had in store for us. From the secret destination (Cooroy) to the vintage cars to our final locale (The Plantation), every detail was taken care of. I had another go having a photo with Shelli - honestly we are lucky - in the US demonstrators line up for hours for their photo opportunity. Above I am with Karen Scott and Kim Gavarra and below is Sharon, Robyn and Kim.

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!