A card for my real sister!

I know that I have been chatting a lot recently about my Secret Sisters, but I actually have real ones too. And I love them dearly! It happens to be one of their birthdays today and I have whipped up this card for her.


A fabulous lady from ESAD, Cathy Clarke, has recently given us a tutorial on how to make faux paper, so I thought I'd try it out on this card. What do you think? The possibilities are endless and I think you might see a few different combinations over the next few weeks.

Also Leonie Schroder from ESAD gave us some tips and ideas on how to use glossy cardstock, so I have stamped my rose image on glossy card and coloured in using circular motions with a sponge dauber. It was so easy and the result is fantastic.

Card: Whisper White, Pixie Pink, Orchid Opulence, Glossy White
Ink: Orchid Opulence, Pixie Pink, Stazon White, Regal Rose
Punches: Small Oval, Large Oval
Stamp Sets: Fifth Avenue Floral, Short and Sweet Baroque Motifs

Till next time, happy stamping...

3D book with co-ordinating Love Notes

I know it's been nearly a week since I posted, but I have been busy with classes and secret sister stuff. Hopefully I can start to put some more posts up on here soon.

Anyway the image you can see below is one of the classes that I am running this week. This 3D book can be filled with anything. Sweets, ribbon, brads, or even the love notes that I have made. The perfect packaging for book lovers!


These sweet little love notes were 'case'd from my previous Secret Sister, Dianne Spies. I loved her work, however had to make them a little smaller to fit in the book. To see Dianne's work, click here.

I am really loving the Oval All stamp set and Scallop Oval punch that are available in the Spring Mini catalogue. I know that I'll be using them for years to come! These are only available till 30th November 2009 so I encourage you to buy them, as I am sure that you'll love them as much as I do.

Card: Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White
Ink: Pink Pirrouette, Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red
DSP: Bella Rose
Ribbon: Kiwi Kiss/Very Vanilla Satin, Riding Hood Red Taffeta
Punches: Corner Rounder, Scallop Oval, Large Oval
Tools: Spritzer, Stampin' Write Markers

For more information on classes that I am running, please check out my events calendar.

Till next time, happy stamping...

October class

Hello. I thought it was about time that I stopped showing you things that I made for my Secret Sister Kim, and finally show you what I have been doing lately.

Well the picture below is from one of my October classes. I am really enjoying the versatility of these folded cards. For this class the students (hello ladies!) got to make two of each card.

I had all the peices pre cut and scored and the flower was pre-dyed. The rest was left up to the class. We did daubing, punching, cutting and thumping. We trialled quite a few different techniques.


Now I know that you think I am being a bit slow on the things that I have been making lately. However I have been very busy in my little crafting area. I am just making lots for my current Secret Sister and I can't show you a thing. Be warned though, I have already started getting each post ready for item that I have sent. They are just being scheduled to come up mid January - I know it's a long wait but at least you can be sure you'll see it all. Along with historical commentary of what is happening at the time I made the card.

Girly card ingredients...

Card: Basic Grey, Regal Rose, Baja Breeze, So Saffron, Very Vanilla
Ink: So Saffron, Regal Rose
DSP: Walk In The Park
Embellishments: Pretties Kit
Stamp Set: Great Friend

Manly card ingredients...

Card: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, Not Quite Navy, Really Rust
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Not Quite Navy, Really Rust
Embellishments: Hodge Podge Hardware
Stamp Set: Sense of Time

Till next time, happy stamping...

Where is the picture from?

Hi everyone,

Well this post is a response to a question from a lady named Wanda. Wanda wanted to know where the photo at the top of my blog was taken.

I took this photo in April 2007 at Port Campbell, Victoria, Australia. For those that know a bit about Port Campbell you will know it is on part of the Great Ocean Road and is where the 12 Apostles are.

I love this picture because in the foreground is still water, but behind it is the raging Southern Ocean. It kind of reminds me of me..... I might appear calm, but if you look a little deeper you'll find something wild and uncontrollable.

I apologise for not putting much up here of late, but I am busy preparing for my current round of Secret Sister and workshops.

Wanda, thanks for visiting my blog. I will endeavour to answer any questions and comments that may be left. So please ask away.

Till next time, happy stamping...

Simply Sweet card

Okay, so here I am again with yet another card that I sent to my SS. Wasn't she spoilt?

I vaguely remember trying to copy a layout from another card, and this was the final product and it looked nothing like the original, after I had made my changes. This seems to happen to me all the time, but that's what I like about cardmaking. The fact that anything goes!


Card: Pink Pirrouette, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White
Ink: Regal Rose, Kiwi Kiss
DSP: Sweet Always
Punches: Eyelet Border, Large Oval, Scallop Oval
Embellishments: Flower Brads, Stampin Pastels
Stamp Set: Simply Said

Till next time, happy stamping...

Birthday box

Well Kim couldn't have a birthday without a little treat from me. I made this 2-5-7-10 box for her and put some yummy choccies in it.

There are so many beautiful boxes available to make and I have found that if you take your cardstock and stamp over it first, it makes it much more interesting. I used the Always in Bloom wheel on this one.


Did you notice that I have finally worked out how to do a watermark? Joining Stampin' Up! ® has not only encouraged me to learn more papercrafts, but given me the confidence to learn how to blog and use my computer more effectively. Just another hidden benefit of Stampin' Up®! Now I will have to go back and redo all the pictures on my blog to date - oh what a job! Also this week I have worked out how to schedule posts for a later date. So was I really home when I posted all those previous posts? You'll never know.

Card: Lavender Lace, Whisper White, Almost Amethyst
Ink: Versamark, Lavender Lace
Ribbon: Purple and White organza - non SU
Punch: Eyelet Border
Stamp Sets : Always, Always In Bloom Wheel

Till next time, happy stamping...

Bella birthday

Here's another card I made for, yep - you guessed it, my SS, Kim. It was her birthday, so I thought I'd try something a little different. Now this card looks quite plain on the front, but sometimes simple equals elegant.



On the inside of this card was a little surprise. It was a pop up card, which looked like a tower of presents. Please excuse the toe in the photo (it was very difficult to photograph without capturing shadows). I am glad my polish nearly matched the card.

So isn't this just a nifty thing, this secret sister society. It's easy to join - you just need to join the SU family and the fantastic ESAD (Extremely Special Australian Demonstrators) online group.

SU have a fantastic promotion at the moment. If you join before 31st December 2009, you will receive a Pretty in Pink Classic Stampin' Pad and package of Raspberry Tart Designer Series paper for free. And SU will donate $5 to National Breast Cancer Foundation (AUS). Email me for more information.

Card: Riding Hood Red, Very Vanilla
Ink: Riding Hood Red
DSP: Bella Rose
Ribbon: Riding Hood Red 3/8" taffeta
Punches: Large Oval, Scallop Oval
Stamp Set: Short and Sweet

Till next time, happy stamping...

No stamping?????

Yes, I made something without stamping! I must have been going through withdrawals on this day.

I made this bright concertina folder for my SS. I found some instructions on the net, but had to change them to fit my gift inside and of course, I have been very bad and not kept them. I will learn one day, never to let the kids get to all my scrap bits of paper with important crafting information on them.


There was some cutting out from the Good Morning Sunshine DSP, which took me back to kindergarten. I don't own the corresponding stamp sets, Cheep Talk and Good Friend, for this DSP, but my cut outs worked perfectly.

My SS listed gardening as one of her hobbies, so I thought that I would buy her some seeds, which fitted perfectly into my re-adjusted concertina folder.



Card: Soft Sky (retired), Summer Sun, Pacific Point
DSP: Good Morning Sunshine
Punches: 1" Circle, Scallop Circle, Corner Rounder
Embellishments: Chunky Glitter

Till next time, happy stamping...

Diamond fold card

Well as promised here is another card that I made for my Secret Sister. This was one of the very early ones that she received.

It is called a Diamond fold card and is really simple to make.


As you can see in the picture below it opens out quite snazzy.

I did use a DSP on the triangle folds next to the back rectangles, but you can't see from these pictures. Sorry. As you probably have noticed my photography has improved somewhat over the last couple of months and since I sent this away, I have nothing to take extra photo's of.




I was really organised when I made all of Kim's cards and gifts wrote all of the ingredients down. I also send Kim the links to where I had obtained my tutorial from, but I didn't note these, so I apologise to the author and also to my followers.

Card: Cameo Coral, Chocolate Chip, Pink Pirrouette
Ink: Chocolate Chip
DSP: Berry Bliss (retired - lucky you can't see it...lol)
Stamp sets: Circle Circus, Echoes of Kindness (hostess set)

Till next time happy stamping

I was spoiled by Dianne Spies

Well I have shown you a couple of things that I made for my Secret Sister in Round 1. Now it is time to see my final parcel contents.

Firstly there was this adorable bag made by Di. I was entranced by the bag, but was thrilled when I opened it to find my very own scallop edge punch. I jumped up and down with glee to receive that.


This bag was made using:

Card: Pacfici Point, Whisper White
Ink: Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette
Punch: Scallop Square
Ribbon: Pacific Point 5/8" Striped Grosgrain
Stamp sets: Seeing Spots, Say It With Scallops

Next was this adorable card, which Dianne 'revealed' herself to me.

Card: Very Vanilla, Perfect Plum, Always Artichoke, Really Rust
Ink: Perfect Plum, Always Artichoke, Really Rust, White Stazon
Punches: Eyelet Border, Scallop Circle
Ribbon: Elegant Eggplant 1/4" Grosgrain
Embellishments: Button Latte, Linen Thread
Stamp sets: Polka Dot Background, En Francais, Fresh Cuts

Finally there was this adorable little gift bag, filled with these sweet little Love Notes. The concept for the gift bag was delightfully simple, yet stunning.

Card: Not Quite Navy, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White
Ink: Stazon White, Basic Grey, Kiwi Kiss, Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze
DSP: Urban Garden
Ribbon: Basic Grey Taffeta, Baja Breeze 1" Double Stitched Grosgrain
Stamp Set: Pocket Silhouettes

I feel that I was spoiled by my Secret Sister, Dianne. The thing I love about the Stampin Up company is that all the demo's are there to share. It's a real friendly group of people, and it certainly does feel like a family, which means that having a Secret Sister doesn't feel strange.

So you think that was enough for me. I was pretty happy with it. But Dianne also spoilt my daughters by sending them their own parcel, with a teddy inside. Now they will not go to bed without their teddy from their Secret Aunty.

Anyway I will be back soon with more from the past three months. I'd love to show you projects I am working on now but they are for my new Secret Sister, so you'll just have to wait.

Till next time, happy stamping...

Triple butterfly

Well as promised I am back with a card I made for my SS way back. This was the first card I made using the Great Friend stamp set from the Spring Mini and I still like it.


I used the rock and roll technique on the centre butterfly, so that the colours graded from Apricot Appeal to Ballet Blue.

Card: Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze
Ink: Versamark, Ballet Blue, Apricot Appeal, Pacific Point
DSP: Good Morning Sunshine
Punches: 1" cirlce, Oval Scallop
Stamp Set: Great Friend

Till next time, happy stamping...

The contents of the box revealed

Now I know that I have been gone for over a fortnight, and the suspense may have been killing you. The box in the previous post, was the final parcel to my Secret Sister. Her name was Kim Conway and I really enjoyed thinking of new things to make for her.

So the first thing to show you is this fantastic stationary box. I made this using the "I Wish" Simply Scrappin Kit.


I followed the tutorial by Jackie Topa. It was quite simple to make and a lot of fun.

Using the Simply Scrappin Kit I was able to make a heap of cards, tags and love notes to go in this box. I honestly think that is a fabulous idea for a gift for the person who you don't know what to buy.


Kim has a bundle of kids, so I made them all an individual little pocket, with a personalised tag on the front, with a freddo frog in it.

I originally bought the "All In The Family" stamp set before I even joined SU, but hadn't quite worked out how to use it. Now that I have my trusty Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, I was able to put these little tags together quite quickly.

And of course, we couldn't forget a choccie for Mum and Dad, so I whipped up this cute little toblerone case.

And finally my favourite thing in the box. Yet another waterfall card. I love them. This one was made using the Walk In The Park DSP and co-ordinating Great Friend stamp set from the Spring mini.

I used the Build-A-Brads for this project and I love them. They finish a project off beautifully.



So there you go. That was what was in the box for my SS. I hope you enjoyed unveiling these all as you read down the post, as much as I enjoyed making them.

I will be back soon with some more of my creations from the last three months.

Till next time, happy stamping...