Extra Large Two-Step Bird Punch

Welcome to my latest card and I trust the photos above tell the story. My eldest daughter, Dana is wearing her most favourite t shirt, which is the colour inspiration for my latest card using the brand new extra large bird punch in the Autumn Winter Mini Catalogue. Dana is also standing next to my scrap drawers, which I purchased from K Mart. these drawers have proven to be one of the best storage items I have bought as they ensure no scraps go to waste. I can also let my children use whatever they like from these drawers without having to ask. I might share some of their creations with you over the Easter Holidays. I had a lot of fun making this card as it was a fun, colourful & whimsical card, using white embossing (friends 24/7) & Polka Dots Embossing Folder. FYI the word on the birds wing were stamped using the new 'Tiny Tags' Stamp Set.

Below is another whimsical creation - just having fun punching out my scraps - stamped images that didn't go to plan, a magazine page, and a bit of bright green for impact. Add a couple of buttons and I'm pretty happy with this cute card.

The card below is 'cased' directly from the NEW mini catalog and I had fun making this too. The Polka Dot Embossing Folder is used to texturize (is that a word? - well it is now!) half the card and the bird looks fab on the top note die.

Below is a card from Leonie's Blog made by Leonie's sister Jackie - how clever is she to make the bird punch wok as a Christmas Card. You can check out the full description by looking up Leonie's post at http://stampandscrapinheaven.blogspot.com/2010/04/crafting-with-my-sister.html

The next two cards are made by a US Demonstrator Ann Fitzgerald. Now she is one clever lady, figuring out that you can modify the bird pieces into a heliconia and a chick. Ann's full posts can be found on the following link http://annscreativemoments.com/

Extra Large Bird Punch for a Wedding Card

Here is another card I made with the NEW extra large bird punch. Thank you to Ellie for the inspiration at our latest demonstrator get together, where she punched the bird from stamped images - I loved that idea! The NEW 'Heard from the Heart' Stamp Set is one of those perfect word stamps that has beautiful script and just seems to fit effortlessly onto lots of card designs. I have also purchased this stamp set as a clear mount, and so lining the words up on the white rectangle was a breeze! Amethyst, Elegant Eggplant and Whisper White make a really classy analogous colour theme. I also sponged the edges of the Whisper White bird, so as to make it pop. I can see myself using this bird punch a lot - I love it!

Autumn Winter Mini Catalogue Launch

This is the event you have been waiting for. In fact I am so excited about the new products in the upcoming Autumn Winter Catalogue, I can't wait to share them with you. In the true spirit of Stampin' Up!, the best way to share these new products and techniques is to invite you to use them. I know you will love the 2 make & take cards we have planned, where you will use the new Stampin' Up! Big Shot with dies & embossing folders, a new punch style as well as the Clear Mount Stamp Option. Probably the biggest news we have is the introduction of 3 new exclusive colours and you will get to use my favourite new colour in one of the Make & Takes.

There are 2 dates and venues to choose from

Sunday 28th March 2-5pm
Wynnum Manly Leagues Club
92 Wondall Rd, Manly West

Wednesday 31st March 6-9pm
Pendirup Community Centre
365 Samsonvale Rd, Warner

The $10 entry fee for the launch includes a Mini Catalogue, 2 Deluxe Make & Takes, Fantastic Demonstrations, Door Prize Entry and Displays of Papercraft & New Product. RSVP is absolutely essential as we have a lot of preparation and ordering to do and payment would be appreciated either by cash, credit card over the phone 0448 896 001 or alternately you can use this neat Pay Pal Payment Button below. Pay Pal is a secure way to pay and will help me keep track of numbers and names, so if you can use this option, I would really appreciate you giving this payment method a go. If none of these options suit you, please email me your RSVP and we can make other arrangements.

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Venue

Wynnum Manly Leagues Club Pendirup Community Centre

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February Hostess Winner

To be honest I really wanted all my February Hostesses to win the Hostess Bundle for February, however, there can only be one winner drawn. Christian again did the honors and to be honest I'm thinking of getting a new model! Honestly, Christian is going through that stage that any attempt to smile for the camera, looks super fake. I tried getting him to close his eyes and opening them when I took the photo - a technique that usually works a treat but guess what, not with Christian! Never mind, at least he was keen to help and he drew out the lovely Keren Ham's name. Keren has been a hostess with me since I started Stampin' Up!, so she might have some of the things in the bundle - still, I'm pretty positive that some of the items will be new to Keren and perhaps she'll have some really grateful friends!

'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.