Thank You Tuesday Craft Group

A heartfelt thank you to all of the Tuesday Craft Group ladies who worked on building up the stockpile of 'Angel Footprint Cards' today. Kim, Kate, Liz O, Jill, Olga, Ursula, Marjorie, Trish, Glenda and Diane worked tirelessly sticking, punching & cutting out our precious cards which are donated to the Mater Mothers & Royal Brisbane Bereavement Programs.

These cards are used by nursing staff to stamp the little footprints of angel babies (stillborn bubs), so that parents have memory of their child to take home. We also make coordinating cards, so that name cards may be made and these are also made available to the special care nursery. These cards are made using materials we have been able to buy from the proceeds of our raffles at the Christmas Card Workshops. This had been made possible by the generous donation of raffle products by Stampin' Up! as well as the support of the Paper Angels Group of Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrators and their customers.

Of course, none of this would happen without help to put these cards together and I am extremely grateful to everyone who has helped in any way, be it attending the workshops, buying raffle tickets and as highlighted today, putting the cards together.

One concern that came up today was the quantity of cards we are making. When you actually make each of these cards, you do tend to think about how awful it is that there is a need for them at all. I was pleased to be able to answer this question and I thought I would share it with you, just in case you are wondering. The Mater Hospital, where we first started, found that when a baby was stillborn it was not just the parents that wanted a record of the precious footprints. Grandparents on both sides and sometimes other family were also requesting these cards. The Mater Hospital asked me if it was ok if they used more than one card for each angel baby. Well of course that was just fine and our pleasure to make some difference, albeit however small. It does seem small when you consider the enormity of what the family is going through. If you look at the cards we made below, you will just see the base cards. we actually supply specially sized pieces of 'Whisper White' Cardstock, which are used to pop the footprints on as well as stamp names on the name cards using alphabet dies. We supply, inks, stamps, cleaners, adhesives and training to back all this up.

After craft group, I picked my kids up from school. My goodness what a hot day we have had today in Brisbane. When we arrived home, ice blocks were definitely the go. I was so hot even I had one but boy were they weird - mango & coconut - it was like drinking 'Reef Oil' if you know what that is? The kids loved them though and chose the trampoline to sit on - naturally I kick them outside when eating this type of thing! Neo our black lab tried very hard to have a taste of the ice blocks to no avail!

Coordinate your way to Scrapbooking Success

Inspired by a magazine sketch, I created this layout starting with 'Blueberry Crisp Designer Series Paper' as my starting point or base page if you like. 'Pacific Point', 'Daffodil Delight' & 'Rich Razzleberry' completed this 'Sweet Set' of colours with the aid of Stampin' Up! Cardstock, inks & 'Printed Petals' Stamp Set.

I took advantage of both my Stampin' Up! Big Shot Alphabet Dies, to create the title and used Stampin' Write Markers to alternately colour the small border flower stamp in the 'Printed Petals' Stamp Set. How fabulous that Stampin' Up! makes 'Daffodil Delight' Satin Ribbon to PERFECTLY coordinate with my page.

I'd like to claim credit for this 'sweet' combination of colours, but credit must go to my very useful colour coach that came up with a combination I probably would not have thought to do. I'll let you in on another secret that might surprise you - I chose the sketch and colour combination before I found the photos. That might break every scrapbooking 'rule', but sometimes this is a fun way to scrapbook and if you have as many photos as I do, you will be amazed how easy it is to find the perfect photo match. Would you have guessed this is the way I made this page?

Here are the products & accessories that I used, although the 'Blueberry Crisp Designer Series Paper' and cardstocks are not pictured. If you would like to find out more about these products, order them or book a workshop so you can have a 'hands on experience' using them, I would love to hear from you. You can reach me on 0448 896 001 or email liz@danichbe.com

I'm loving my 'Presto Patterns' & Crop Nights

You just know when you've made a great scrapbooking acquisition when you've almost used the entire packet of mixed patterns up and are thinking about buying another. It took me a while to start using 'Presto Patterns Specialty Designer Series Paper', but I'm now officially obsessed! I have now discovered a really cool way to watercolour this amazing paper to create unique backgrounds without curling the paper! In previous posts I have sponged colour on and in our latest Demonstrator's Meeting, Amanda taught us how we can use chalk as well.

I really enjoyed playing with the products during 'Crop Night' whilst having a chat with the girls. For those of you who are not sure if 'Crop Night' is another language, basically it is a social get together where people bring what photos and cardstock etc they have. Using inspiration from each other and resources such as books, albums & samples, we all aim to scrapbook our photos. No experience is necessary to participate in Crop Night. I have some extra materials on hand to help things along too! Sometimes we create a storm and other times we spend more time talking and enjoying supper! Crop Nights are starting to appear on my event calendar and as they gather numbers, I will add in more sessions. Each Crop Night is strictly limited to 6 people including myself to ensure we have plenty of space and don't have to wait too long to use resources such as the Big Shot.

Did you know that you can dye trims & embellishments with Stampin' Up's Classic Dye Reinkers. I dyed this 'white' pom pom trim with Baja Breeze Reinker - very neat and easy to do! 'Word Play' Stamp Set is an awesome stamp set for scrapbooking quotes & titles, as pictured below and stamped with 'Cajun Craze Classic Ink. 'Baja Breeze Classic Ink' has been spritzed over the whisper white cardstock using a Stampin' Write Marker & Spritzer.

The flower accent was created with split cardstock, whilst the glittered letters were made with the supernova glitter and Big Shot dies as described in recent posts. The colours I used to watercolour the 'Presto Patterns' were 'Baja Breeze' and 'Pear Pizazz'.

FREE FOCUS on FAUX SILK Workshop INVITATION

This Saturday 29th January at 10am, I will be having a FREE workshop where you can come along and 'make & take' this gorgeous card. You will be amazed at how easy it is to create this stylish butterfly accent. I will also be demonstrating 2 additional cards using the 'Faux Silk' Technique. This workshop starts at 10am, finishing at 11.30 with tea, coffee and biscuits available. There will be an opportunity to order Stampin' Up! products, with a FREE Sale a Bration Stamp Set with every $100 order placed. There are a choice of 4 gorgeous FREE Stamp Sets ensuring there is something for everyone!

It is important to RSVP to this event either by phone or email, so that I prepare enough make & takes. I know you will love this workshop, and I look forward to seeing you there tomorrow!

Demonstrator Meeting 'Make & Takes'

We had a really lovely Demonstrator Meeting on Wednesday night, joined by some new faces and visitors. The amusing thing was that I moved the meeting back to my home studio as I suspected the meeting would be smaller in numbers given it was a Wednesday and the first one back in 2011. Imagine my surprise when 18 demonstrators came and the expression 'you couldn't swing a cat' was very accurate. Luckily the table in my studio is pretty big and we all managed to fit around it and created our 2 make & takes. The first card pictured above was based on a scrapbooking page I created and posted a couple of days back, featuring the 'Presto Patterns Designer Series Paper'. I will be demonstrating this card in upcoming workshops and there are so many techniques and good ideas, I'm sure there will be something for everyone to learn & enjoy.

The next card we made, I designed using the new FREE Sale a Bration 'So Happy for You' Stamp Set, which customers & demonstrators will receive FREE with each $100 order spent (there are also 3 other designs to choose from). This card is simple & stylish and I will be offering this as a make & take at some of my upcoming workshops (I do have other make & take designs also but this is just one example). Beginners and experienced stampers alike enjoy cards that are easily replicated, with the opportunity to put their own personal 'stamp' on the design. I chose the colour combination using the 'Color Coach', but imagine the many different colour combinations that are possible!

Our next meeting, which is the last Saturday afternoon in February (we alternate each month between Wednesday evening & Saturday afternoons) is likely to return to the Wynnum Manly Leagues Club and I'll keep people posted on that. If you like the cards featured, book a workshop and experience the fun of making your own! Alternately, if you have ever thought about being a demonstrator, why not come along as a guest to our next meeting to see what it's all about. If you do not live in the Brisbane area, there are still lots of ways you can remain involved as a demonstrator and receive ideas & training, so do contact me to ask any questions you might have.

'Look - I've journalled'

I'll fess up - my biggest challenge with scrapbooking is journalling and I'll either leave it out all together or use hidden journalling panels. However, I really want my kids to remember details behind the photos and in the case of this page, journalling is vital as the boys probably wont remember this far back themselves.

This page features 'Blueberry Crisp Designer Series Paper' on a 'Cajun Craze' Cardstock Base. 'Razzle Dazzle' on page 69 of the 2010/2011 Idea Book & Catalogue is the coordinating stamp set to the DSP. Instead of the larger steel rule Alphabet Dies I have been using recently, I switched to the smaller 'Timeless Type Junior Alphabet Medium Sizzlit Dies', so that I could fit my titles on the page.

The accent was created using a chipboard circle covered with very vanilla cardstock and stamped using the 'Rock and Roll' technique using 'Sahara Sand ' and 'Cajun Craze' Classic Inks.



Here's a visual of some of the tools and materials I used. The 'Two Way Glue Pen' is the easiest way to stick down smaller die cut letters that I have found. It is kind of like a 'glue texta', with a nib that allows you to 'draw' glue on small areas.

More 'Presto Patterns' Scrapbooking

Following on from my last post, I have continued enjoying working with 'Presto Patterns Specialty Designer Series Paper', which allows me to sponge my own choice of colour over a clear embossed image. Presto Patterns contains an assortment of designs, including this lovely floral pattern, which I sponged with 'Blushing Bride Classic Ink'. 'Not Quite Navy', 'Blushing Bride' and 'Certainly Celery'/'Pear Pizzaz' Cardstock, made a striking colour combination, which I accented with 'Regal Rose' Cardstock & Pink Supernova Glitter Butterflies.

I used the same 'Simple Letters Alphabet' used in the last post, however, this time I covered the chipboard with 'Pear Pizzaz' Cardstock prior to cutting the letters out with the 'Big Shot Die Cutting Machine'. The striped 'paper' is in fact paper created with mini strips of all the colours I used. This technique may be found in an earlier post, 'A Christmas Card with a Handy Hint'.