School Holiday Fun + a Download!

I thought I'd share with you a project I did the other day with Ella and a couple of her friends. They all love scrapbooking. So I thought I'd give them a bit of a project and make up a quiz for them and get them to fill it in in their own handwriting and then do a layout with it. They all did a fantastic job of their layouts and they really liked doing the quiz part of it.

Here is what they came up with...(apologies for the photos as I did them quickly before the girls went home!)

This was a great activity to do with the kids and I got my boys to do one too and even they loved it! So I thought I'd share the document I created with you to make it even easier. To download the Word document go here. You can change the questions etc if you want to, but this will give you a starting point! I'd love to see any pages that you or your children do with this quiz!

Thanks for stopping by. Make sure you come back tomorrow as I will be posting a new layout and its my turn for the Simple Aussie Girls Challenge!

SAG Challenge

Hi Everyone,

Hope you are all enjoying the school holidays. I love and hate the school holidays all at the same time. I love not having to be out of the house with lunches packed etc by 9am and I love spending time with my kids. But I hate it when they get bored and whinge because they want to be constantly entertained! Plus the fighting between the three of them increases when they are bored! July school holidays are the hardest I think because we can't go to the beach which is easy (and cheap) entertainment!

Anyway, I'm a couple of days late posting this, but the new challenge is up at Simple Aussie Girls and its a colour challenge. I love these colours and was very happy with the layout I did.

So why not give it a go...its a great challenge and we'd love you to take part!

I'm working on a digital layout which I don't normally do, so will be back to show you that very soon.

Thanks for stopping by.



Sketch Challenge 3

Stopping in quickly to show you the layout I have done for the latest challenge on the Simple Aussie Girls challenge. This week is a sketch challenge by Nicole (the queen of scrapping in Australia!). Here is my take on the sketch...

Love these pictures of Jacob with my nephew Aiden. Aiden adores all the kids and I love the look of delight on his face! You'll also notice that there is handwriting on this page. This is not a common thing on my pages as I prefer the look of typed journaling. However, after a comment on the SAG blog last week, I realised I need to make a bit more of an effort to do it more often. I am not a fan of my handwriting, but I'm sure my kids will like to see it in years to come!

Just a little note on the SAG blog...I am loving all the inspiration that it is providing. Now I know you will be thinking I'm a little bias, but truly all the SAG girls are posting truly amazing layouts and that on top of all those that are joining in on the challenges provides a one stop shop for inspiration! So make sure you check it out and pop back regularly.

Don't forget there is a fabulous FREE gift for any Stampin' Up! orders over $100 for the month of July, so check out the catalogue and place your order now via email or phone (0419 219 240).

As always, thanks for stopping by. I love getting comments, so make sure you let me know that you have been here!

SU Regional Make & Take's

It seems bizarre that I am posting this now, as the SU Regional Meeting was in November last year, but I have just never gotten around to sharing what we made.

We were given the Every Moment Stamp Set as a freebie. Now I'll be honest, its not one that I would normally pick or use, but I have to say I was very impressed with what we made. It may not be completely my normal style, but I really enjoyed learning different techniques and creating something different to what I normally do.

We created a card (you will have to ignore the smudge mark on the writing - my first time using a spritzer plus under pressure as I was surrounded by a lot of other extremely talented demonstrators!!!!! We made a mini gift card which I really like. Very quick and easy to make. Plus we made the little gift box which I think is really cute. A close up of the box is below.

We used watercolours and an aqua painter to colour the images, which again was something new for me. It was a lot of fun.

We also created a Scrapbook layout. It was 6x6, but I have just added it to a 12x12 page so that it fits in my album.

This was a very quick and easy page and it turned out quite well I think!

The Regionals was a great time of getting to know other demonstrators and learning some great new techniques. I really enjoyed the day.

In May I will be attending the annual Stampin' Up! Convention in Melbourne. This will be my first time and I am extremely excited! There are around 500 demonstrators that attend the Convention and I am sure it will be a wonderful time of learning (and shopping in Melbourne!!!!). I am busily working on my swaps at the moment, but will have more cards and things to share in the next few days. I'm determined to be better at posting on my blog.

Just on another note, I have some dates available for workshops coming up in the next month and it is a great time to host a workshop as the New Autumn/Winter Mini catalogue has been released. There are some great new products and just by hosting a Workshop you have the opportunity to earn FREE Products along with hostess stamp sets, a free catalogue and a gift from me just for booking. So get some friends together and contact me to arrange a Workshop date.

Punch Art Blog Hop

Welcome to my first ever Blog Hop...the inaugural South Pacific punch art blog hop!!! If you are coming from Tia's blog, I hope you are enjoying the blog hop so far and getting lots of inspiration. If you are just starting out at my blog then WELCOME and grab a cuppa so you can sit back and be inspired by all the wonderful creations on the different blogs.

A bunch of us Stampin Up demonstrators from NZ and Australia have got together to put this blog hop together. We all love our Stampin Up punches. We have gotten together to showcase a selection of the punches you can purchasae from Stampin Up. Please leave a comment and let us know what you think to go in the draw to win some yummy scrummy punch art blog candy (offer not available to su demos). Comments are open till Friday 5th Nov at 10am.

So the way it works is that each of us demonstrators have been assigned a punch/s to showcase. You start at one blog (doesn't matter which one) and then you follow through the links. So at the end of my post will be the link to the next blog in the blog hop and so on. I've also included the full list of blogs just in case you have any trouble! 

So I am doing the 6 x Circle punches and I would have to say without a doubt these are my most used and most versatile punches. They have so many uses. I use them alot on Scrapbooking Layouts, but also on cards.

Before I go any further, I have to apologise for my photos...I did leave things till the last minute and took all these photos last night so the lighting is a bit dodgy and they are quite crooked as I was trying to get it all finished. Anyway, moving on...

I have heaps of picutres to show you...it really is the best way to showcase how versatile these punches are.

Firstly, Circles are wonderful for use as general embellishments on scrapbook pages...

Some of you may have seen this one before, but I thought I'd use it again as it is a good example of using patterned paper with the circle punches.

Whether you use one, three, six or more circles, you really can't go wrong. They really add some interest to scrapbook layouts.

Then you can add layers to your circles. Whether you use a few different size punches or combine a circle with another punched shape such as the scallop circle or a square, it will always give a great effect.

Another great use for one of the larger circle punches is to punch out a photo. This can really draw attention to an expression on the face of someone if you crop in close and punch out your circle...

This one below may be a little hard to see, but if you take several punched circle shapes (in this case white circles) and put them together they give a flower like effect. You could also place half circles on a page to give a large scallop like effect.

I love using half circles as well. All I do to create this effect is punch out the circle then cut it in half using my trimmer. This layout was done a few years ago and I loved it so much that I recently created a card using the same effect and similar colours! 

Circles come in handy for a place to add a date to a scrapbook layout as well...

My last example of the circle punch is to not only punch out a circle but to punch out a half circle to use as a frame of sorts. Its hard to explain, but you can see what I mean in the two layouts below.

I highly recommend all sizes of the circle punch (there are 6 available through Stampin' Up!). However, I have to say my most used sizes are the 1 3/4"; the 1 1/4" and the 1" punches. They can be found on pages 146-147 of the IB&C and they range in price from $11.50 through to $33.95.

So now you can move onto the next blog in the blog hop which is the very talented Angie Jones and she is showcasing the Ornament punch. Check out her blog at http://angiescraftfusion.blogspot.com/

Don't forget to leave me a comment and you will go in the draw to win some blog candy prizes from all of us demonstrators! Below is the list of all the demonstrators that are participating in the blog hop.

Thanks for stopping by.

1. Karen Southwell - http://www.kareniescrafts.blogspot.com/
2. Carol-Ann Torrie http://queen-of-scraps.blogspot.com/
3 Sally Williams http://www.sallycancraft.com/
4 Julia Leece - http://www.juliascards.blogspot.com/
5 Amy http://ladybugsanddaisychains.blogspot.com/
6 Melissa Davies http://beedevinedesigns.blogspot.com/
7 Michelle Dyson http://www.stampinkpaper.blogspot.com/
8 Clare Mcilhatton http://craftycowcreations.blogspot.com/
9 Lisa Bullock http://daffyscrapper.wordpress.com/
10 Pauline Bennetts - http://paulinebennetts.com/stampede/
11 Tia Routledge http://craftingwithtia.weebly.com/my-blog.html
12 Emma Kirton http://www.emmakirton.blogspot.com/
13 Angie Jones http://angiescraftfusion.blogspot.com/
14 Andrea Buckland http://creatingcardswithandrea.blogspot.com/
15 Steph Gray http://stampinsteph.wordpress.com/

 

Favourites FIVE

Here we are again, Favourites FIVE. Today's favourite is the Designer Series Paper Patterns Stack. To be honest I really like all the Stampin' Up! Patterned Papers, but the Paper Stack is something not to be missed. You get a stack of 40 (yep you read correct...40!!!!) sheets of patterend paper. I adore patterned paper and have a considerable amount - more than I could ever use probably!!!! Anyway, you can choose which colour collection you would like the stack in...whether it be Brights, Subtles, Neutrals or Regals, all are available. With these colour collections you get 40 sheets which consists of 2 each of 2 double sided designs. The paper stack is also available in the In Colour range and with this you get 40 sheets which consists of 4 each of 2 double sided designs.

It is hard to do the papers justice in a photo, but the designs of the papers are gorgeous and if you are a scrapbooker, they are quite neutral (not overly girlish or boyish!). This is an In Colour Stack so there are only 5 colours in it. There is a stripe, a polka dot, a very fine words and this one shown above which I guess you would describe as a filigree. I love the paper stack. Below I have done a scrapbook page using the polka dot Pear Pizzazz colour and I really love how this page turned out.

I've also used the Stampin' Up! brads and the Pretty in Pink cardstock.

The paper stack is on page 127 of the catalogue and is $37.95. Item number varies depending on whcih colour stack you are getting.

Well there you have Favourite Number Five. I hope you are enjoying the series so far. We are half way through!

Don't forget to leave me a comment so you can go in the draw to win one of the gifts I have to give away at the end of the week.