At Convention this year, we received a couple of new sets from the new Ideas Book and Catalogue. This one is Button Buddies and includes 8 images which work perfectly with Stampin' Up!'s lovely buttons.
There's only a few days left to get the Gift With Purchase of free buttons and matching ribbon - worth over $30.00 - look here for more information on how you can get your hands on your free set.
Happy Stampin'
Nikki
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19 years ago I married Paul - gee that sounds a long time ago doesn't it - does that mean we are old? Here's the card I made for my long suffering husband.
We are living apart at the moment - not by choice, the Navy needs Paul in Sydney and our home and lives are in Melbourne. This is the first time we have had to do this and it isn't great, but it's a means to an end and that's what we keep reminding ourselves. Paul gets home as often as he can and we visited a couple of weeks ago.
Here we are in the Chinese Gardens in Sydney. And now for something to make you smile .... I made Paul an album for his 40th birthday which included this page.
It was pre Stampin' Up! days of course - look how young we were. My husband had hair and I had curls - lots and lots of them .... what was I thinking? Mum made my dress, my bridesmaid's dress, my head piece and veil and Paul's cravat. On the way to our hotel on the night we were married, we both said we wanted to have the whole day all over again - it was such a perfect day.
Sads, I hope you have a lovely day and the sun shines for you. Thank you for the past 19 years, bribe the Navy poster to send you home very soon, love you x
Nik
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Morning and welcome to another blog hop with friends. This month we are showcasing Stampin' Up!'s amazing range of ribbons. If you are starting here that's great just follow the links .... if you have arrived from the lovely Tina Gillespie's blog - isn't she one clever lady.
I've used different pieces of Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie and Concorde Crush ribbon scraps and stuck them to a piece of card using sticky strip. Ideally, I think a quilters wheel and cutting mat would ensure a clean crisp edges to the ribbons, but as my quilters wheel is a little rusty I used my guillotine - that was a little scary to cut with but eventually we got there.
The little flower is a Fleurettes II (page 140) teamed together with a Pumpkin Pie button and a slither of Concorde Crush cardstock to represent the thread.
The card size is a little on the slim side - I've recently discovered the Small Open-End envelopes on Page 123 - have never noticed them before Convention (when we made the most lovely swap this size) - they are very cute.
Hope you are enjoying this Ribbon Bonanza and you are inspired ... hop along now to see what my lovely friend Di Dunk has been up to.
See you next week - have a great weekend.
Nikki
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A lovely lady told me this week that no matter what age you are, no matter what else you have on at that particular moment, the time is always right to welcome new friendships into your life.
Well, for me, that sums up the lady I made this card for. Introduced through another lovely friend; Liz and I met whilst sharing a love for stamps and papercrafting.
As I was making this card I was thinking of all the other lovely friends I have met in the past two years; ladies who understand how I can get so excited about a new roll of ribbon, a new set of stamps, a new technique that I just have to share, share a passion for 'daubing' or have got (or have survived!!) teenage kids ... or who just enjoy a cuppa and a chat, or a quick catch up by SMS. I think I am so very lucky to have these girlfriends in my life.
So Happy Birthday Liz, hope you have a super day and thank you for our friendship.
Love Nikki
x
PS - why have I waited so long to start using Cajun Craze? Love the French Foliage set - it so suits this colour, and the Baja Breeze and Old Olive combination is a suggestion from my trusty Colour Coach.
I love this card. It was inspired from a stamping magazine - not sure which one but when I saw the tree made with the leaves from the two step bird punch I knew that eventually I would find the time to make it. It really is very easy (yes Sharon I did write easy LOL) to place the leaves (tear off the stems) into a shape of a tree - and when we made this in the class last week we had trees of all different styles ... and they all looked lovely.
I've used the Vintage Vogue set to create the background - stamping tone on tone with Rich Razzleberry - and the pearls are a must have finish for the card.
Happy Stampin
Nikki
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I've made a start on my Christmas cards. How is that for organised? I have started a monthly Christmas card class (waving hi to the ladies from Friday night) - here is the first of the three that we made.
Poppy Parade, Early Espresso and Whisper White .... lovely combination. If you are wondering about that die cut - its the Top Note die cut once as usual and then you pop it back in the other way round to create a more square shape.
There are still a couple of places left in the August class - its on the 26th - and we are going to be getting glittery. If you want to book a seat call or SMS 0428 254 952.
Happy Stampin
Nikki
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I've created a page for Stampamemory today - click here to take a little look. I've opened a packet of Autumn Spice Designer Series Paper - wow - its so lovely and very 'me'. Why has it taken me so long to use it?
And yes that is a photo of my lunch :)
Nikki
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Inspired by the Gift With Purchase flyer - here's a quick card for you. With this dark and cold winter days we could all do with a bit of cheering up couldn't we.
I'm away for a few days - visiting my husband in Sydney. I'll be back mid week so I'll show you some photos when I return.
Happy school holidays for all those that have school aged kids.
Nikki
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Class date for August is moving to Friday 26th.
If you want to come call or email.
6 cards this time, three designs .... lots of sparkle.
Come along and have fun.
Nikki
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This moth's challenge over at Stampamemory, is to produce a page using a Page Map. I love Page Maps - they make one of the hardest parts of deciding where and how to lay out the page just so easy .... and then of course using Stampin' Up!'s range of coordinating products makes chosing and matching product and colours a breeze .... scrapbooking isn't hard at all now!
And here's my interpretation. I've used this layout design before - and I love it. Inspired by this month's Gift with Purchase, I used the colours of the free ribbon and buttons as my colour choice for this page - (see yesterday's post to check out how to qualify for this freebie).
These two girls are in some ways like chalk and cheese and in others just so similar. They have been friends for over half their lives and for as long as we have lived in Australia. When they are together - there is always a camera ... they are definiately not camera shy :)
Which is good for a scrapbooking mum!
I've added in heaps of different textures including tearing, using the polkadot embossing folder and the Pompom trim from the soon to be retiring Autumn Winter Mini.
The title is from Fun and Fast Notes set - if you love this set a little birdie told me that it will be retiring in August - so check it out on page 46, and you want / need it have a chat with your demostrator or contact one of us from Stampamemory.
I also created a sheet of my own DSP. Using the Extreme Elements stamp set, Daffodil Deight, Pacific Point and Melon Mambo inks, I stamped away and created an A4 sheet of customised cardstock. I punched 1 1/4" squares and backed them with 1 3/8" squares - love how the SU punches just coordinate in size - made this job super quick and super easy. I'll be making a couple of cards from the left over pieces so keep an eye out for them later this month.
So that's the challenge for this month .... have a go, its great fun. If you want to check out my other page using this map have a little looksee here.
Nikki
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Those three little words make me smile - Gift With Purchase (GWP) .... who doesn't love freebies and GWP's usually mean its something you can't buy.
From 1 - 31 July, Stampin' Up! is giving you a FREE exclusive accessories bundle when you sepnd $100 on your choice of Stampin' Up! goodies.
Bundle includes:
* One roll of white 1/4" grosgrain ribbon with a repeating flower design - 13.7m on the roll
* 48 flower buttons, 16 each in 3 colours (Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo and Pacific Point)
What a great offer.
I've been inspired by these bright colours and will be sending a newsletter out this week showing a couple of samples - together with another way you can earn this special bundle.
Click to join my newsletter gang if you want to find out more.
Happy Stampin'
Nikki
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Its the 1st of July - that means it's One on 1 time. Hello if you have arrived from Cherie's blog, lovely to welcome you to my little part of blogland. If you are a regular reader, welcome too ... hop aboard you are in for a treat.
This month we had to get all 'arty' with our word. To be honest with you, some of this was a little out of my comfort zone but I sat down and made myself complete the task in one sitting and yes ... I had fun.
We had to think about our word as we made our little canvases. I've been struggling with a few things this month - nothing major just trying to keep myself focused on my goals, so this was good therapy for me. I had a look through my stash for a few extra non Stampin' Up! things to use and spent two hours creating nine little works of art that are related to each other and individual at the same time.
The words Joy, Love and Create are reflecting the contentment I feel with the constant reminder of my word and its meaning for me during 2011. I started this because every year I made New Year Resolutions and I never kept them - this year I started the OLW journey and now I make sure I do this hop every month to keep me focused on what I have set out to achieve.
The little saying 'Follow your heart for it knows the way' is just so true - whenever I listen to my 'instinct' ... 'gut reaction' or 'mother's intuition' I am never wrong ... I know this path is right for me, does this work for you too?
I thought I'd show you the state of my desk by the time I had finished just for a smile - I know it is a small space but really, I ended up cleaning stamps on my lap - I had pulled everything out and didn't have anymore spare desk to clean the stamps on.
This month has been a month of 'out of comfort zone moments' and I just know July will be too. But I will follow my heart and I know it will lead me to where I want to be, and I'll keep trying to move from where I am comfortable into where I really want to be but am not brave enough to jump completely just yet - wish me luck!
And if you have any great ideas of how to shift from the weight loss plateau I have hit I'd love your tips - still 10 kgs lost - which is great ... but goodness me you'd think my body would have given up on holding onto the rest but nope - I'm stuck ... I'll beat it ... I know I will, but any tips would be gratefully received LOL
Have a great month doing whatever makes you happy. Hop along now to visit Amanda's Blog to see how she has interpreted the task this month.
Come visiting again ...
Nikki
Saturday at 1.00am - is the time all the posts go live - so see you sometime Saturday for the blog hop and update.
Happy Stampin.
Nikki
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