Convention Swaps

One of the biggest events at any Stampin' Up! event is swapping.  

The idea is that you make up a number of cards that are all the same (or maybe like me you get tired of the mass production and make up a couple of different cards) and then you swap them with other demonstrators.  Here's the pile already for packing up - 80 in total.

Its such great fun and something that my customers love - you see all the swaps I receive are then popped into my samples boxed and everyone drools over them until the next swapping event.

So here's my swap up close:

Thankfully I made all the flowers on our Easter break - when I say 'we' I mean my girlfriend Tracy, her daughter Tess and I .... it was a lot of flowers!

 And here they are packaged up and ready to be put into my hand luggage.

Will be happy to swap these with all the lovely ladies at Convention, can't wait to show you all that I receive.

Nikki

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ps - if you have requested details of how to make these flowers, I'll have the instructions ready for you next week - if you haven't sent me an email and you want the instructions - leave me a comment xx

Off to Canberra We Go!

It was June 2009 and I was stalking Claire Daly's blog for Convention news - I read this post and decided that when the time was right, (read when there was a specal offer on cos I am a girl who likes specials lol), .... I would join Stampin' Up! so that I too could have this much fun.

Here I am three years later packing my bags and heading off for my 3rd Convention.  I can't begin to tell you the excitement.  All of those lovely smiling faces in the photos in Claire's post are now really good friends of mine - the friendships I have made with both fellow demonstrators and customers are priceless.

So as I finish my packing and head off, I thought I just remind you that if you have been thinking about joining up (cos you like bargains just like me) .... then consider signing up before the 31st of May becomes the 1st of June.

So how much does it cost?  $169 .... choose $235 of products and pay just $169.  

Do this in May and receive a free pack of Designer Series Paper from June through to December - that's $132 worth of free papers too.

If you never buy another thing - that's okay, if you start a small empire that's cool too - Stampin' Up! really are embracing the Do It My Way approach to stamping and scrapbooking.

I have a Stampin' Up! website that makes it super easy to join up ..... click here to join now.

(There's a great video there to explain how Stampin' Up! started presented by the lovely Shelli Gardener).

Any questions call or email me NOW -  0428 254 952 - don't wait for the next special Do It Now and join in in the fun.

Nikki

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Hopping with FREE DSP!

Oh yes, hands up who wants some free Designer Series Papers?

A group of lovely Stampin' buddies are hopping today to inspire you with some DSP creations.  You have just 5 sleeps left to either Buy 3 get 1 free DSP, or join as a demonstrator for just $169 (and choose goodies of your choice to the value of $235) and receive a free pack of DSP every month from June to December - that's an extra $132 worth of value!

So here's my creation to inspire you.  A few strips of punched Twitterpated paper, a Top Note Die and an embossing folder and hey presto you have yourself a base for a lovely card.  This flower has been sat on my desk for months waiting for just the right card front!

If you'd like the instructions for the flower leave me a comment with your email address and I'll send the information to you.

Time to hop along to the lovely Christine Blain - my fellow roomie at the forthcoming Stampin' Up! Convention in Canberra (along with Judy May - another talented demonstrator) which kicks off Thursday.  Excitement has definitely set in - I'm like a little kid at Christmas.

Back next week with class card samples, swap samples and new of Convention highlights.

Enjoy the hop

Nikki

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Paper Party

Just a quick reminder .... May is Paper Party Month.

During May, you can get FREE Designer Series Paper*—an $18.95 AUD value—in two different ways!

Get a FREE package of Stampin’ Up!’s® exclusive Designer Series Paper when you buy three!

Join Stampin’ Up! as a demonstrator and get a FREE package of Designer Series Paper every month for the rest of 2012!

Find a Designer Series Paper for every crafting occasion, project and mood in the 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalogue and 2012 Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue.

*Excludes Specialty Designer Series Paper **From the 2012 Autumn-Winter Mini 

Don't miss out - this month is a great time to think about becoming a demonstrator - extra rewards availalbe every month - how does a free pack of DSP every month from June to December grab you?  That's $132 worth of free products just for signing up in May.

Call me 0428 254 952

Nikki

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Crayon Resist Technique Class Sample

Inspired by a card Ros Davidson created here is one of the samples from the classes just finished.  I love the Just Surfing set and this makes a great teenage boy card I think.

The next round of classes are all about Bleaching - check out the dates here or call me for more details.

Nikki

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Christening Gifts

Last week was a very good friend's daughter's Christening.  It was such a lovely day.

Pool Party is such a lovely colour and I have used a piece of the In Colour DSP pack to create the butterflies to dress up the gift bag.

And here's the cute card - there are a heaps of these cards out on the net so I had a play with a piece of copy paper and then got stuck in.  The bow was a joint effort - well when I say 'joint' what I really mean is that I tried and tried and then Olivia took over and hey presto!

We have a lovely day - thank you to the Watkins family for inviting us - and we hope you had a lovely day Belle.

Nikki

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Project Life Blog Hop - May

It was whilst blog hopping through the One on 1 last month that I came across Jill Conyer's Project Life monthly blog hopping event - perfect for me as I love a deadline.

Now I am not sure if I am doing this whole Project Life thing the way I imagined I would do.  But for now I am enjoying noting the every day, taking more photos of just normal stuff and knowing that our family life is being documented.  This has taken the stress out of scrapbooking too.

For those that don't know me, I work full time, I'm a mum with two teenage kids and a Navy wife to Paul lives and works interstate just now - he comes home about every three weeks for a couple of days. I am a scrapbooker, card maker and Stampin" Up! demonstrator in my spare time!  So we start with the last week in February (if you want to see my previous updates click here).

I use a couple of apps on the iPhone to help me to remember the important stuff each day.  Not that I use them every day!  I use Momento and Project 365.  This is great because it means I can make notes anywhere and at anytime.

I nag the kids for photos too - and this page has two photos from Paul too.  I've left some blank parts on the written cards as I need to find some facts and figures - you'll see a couple of blank spots throughout these pages.

I am finding it a challenge to switch around the plastics as I seem to take a lot of photos in landscape - but I have found that for some bits of the album it is easier to work out where I will put a photo and then add it to the 'to be printed file' on the computer so I can just slot it in at a later date.

As I was struggling to make some photos work in the plastics I left a whole page out!  I panicked for just a little bit before I decided that I will ask Olivia to fill up the page with photos of her time away with her friends - phew problem solved.

I love the date cards - I am trying to complete a page per week - although for some events like holidays I am using as many pages as I need.

I also love clipping photos from my phone.  The text message from Olivia is a great example of this - we have so many SMS conversations - it is good to be able to print these too.

This is the beginning of the Easter holiday pages - I have used a few pages and more photos than hand written cards.

Isn't my friend's daughter amazing - doing the splits on a paddle board.  Olivia took the photo of the jetty in the dark - love it!

Yes that really is my husband doing yoga on a paddle board!

Its amazing how two grown men entertain themselves isn't it .... such show offs.

Again a couple of blanks on the written card - I can't remember how many fish they caught lol.

Well that's as far as I have got.  The next few weeks after this have become a little sketchy - hence I joined the blog hop .... to refocus my thoughts and reignite my passion for Project Life.

So I will definitely be back next month.  Time to hop along to see Laew.

Thanks again to Jill for prompting me to make a start on my catch up.

Til next time.

Nikki

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Paper Party

During May, you will get a FREE package of Designer Series Paper for every three you buy!

Choose from a wide variety of designs and colours available in the 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalogue and 2012 Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue - excludes Speciality Papers. 

Call 042 254 952 to place your order.

Nikki

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One on 1 Blog Hop - May Update

How quickly are the months hopping along?  Far too quickly.  Thanks to Margie we are hopping again to share our progress with One Little Word.

I had some catching up to do after last month so here's some photos to show you the progress - I am UP TO DATE yay!

Firstly here's the March 'set yourself a task and complete it' challenge ..... I did giggle when I read my blog from last month and I thank everyone who commented ... sometimes 'stuff' just happens doesn't it .... and really these projects don't take me long to do. Its part of the reason I love OLW - you don't have to spend long each month to keep the word in the forefront of your mind.

This page really did just summarise how 'full on' the month of March was and it was no wonder I didn't set a task, let alone complete one.

April's task was much easier, for I knew I really had to work hard to get my OLW FOCUS to be at the forefront of my mind again.

And here's April's update.  I read last year's letter to myself, especially the part about where I want to be one year from now and guess what ... I could have just copied it word for word.  

So I've written something more realistic this year and it feels good to be real for a change!

Thanks for joining me on my OLW journey for this month.  Time to hop along now to Amanda's blog  to see how her month has progressed.

Nikki

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Join Stampin' Up YOUR Way

Click here to find out how you can join for just $169!

Join in May to receive a free pack of Designer Series Paper every month until December!

Art With Heart Team Blog Hop - Scrapbooking

I am blog hopping with the Art with Heart Stampin Up Team, where some of the girls in the team have got together to show off our lovely Designer Series Paper Packs on special during May!  Great if you are a scrap-booker, especially as 1 May is National Scrapbooking Day.  I also have news of a new way to join Stampin' Up and how to get some free papers ..... find out more at the bottom of this post.

Its been too long between scrapbooking pages .... I loved putting this together.  I've used the Well Worn DSP pack - a favourite of mine.

The flowers are made with the Blossoms punch from the new Autumn Winter Mini.  I've 'matted' the flower with a coordinating colour to create an edge to the petals.  I've also used the punch to create a border by cutting up the little petals into individual pieces.

The centres of the flowers are 1" circles of DSP which I have ran through the Lattice Embossing folder and a piece of seam binding tied in a knot.  The little butterflies are have hemp twine detailing too.

This photo was taken during our Easter break at Raymond Island - just as the sun was setting - Olivia is now 16 1/2 and having changed schools and circle of friends, she is now more confident and happy.  A simple task of just letting her hair dry 'au natural' rather than straightening it to within an inch of its life is so significant - this time last year she wouldn't have left the house without everything being 'just so'.

Designer Series Papers Special Offer - buy 3 get one FREE

During the month of May, for every 3 packs of DSP you purchase you choose an extra pack for free - that's a saving of up to $18.95.  Speciality packs are not included.

New Demo News

Now for some breaking news ..... from today, there's a new way to join Stampin' Up!  It's only $169 to become a demonstrator now and the best news is that you can now choose anything you like to go in your kit!

So if you've been an avid customer for a while and have built up your stash of goodies, there is no need to replicate what you have already.  You can choose whatever you want.

As an added incentive to join, any who recruits in May will receive a pack of DSP every month from May until December 2012 for FREE.  This includes packs from any publication - so that's new packs of DSP too - that's $151.60 of free products (you will need to pay shipping).  

The Art With Heart Team is a great group of crafters spread throughout Australia who communicate and share online and in person at stamping days. We would love to have new members join our team.

You can contact me on 0428 254 952 or email me at nikki@inkyart.com.au anytime and I would be happy to answer any questions you have - or send out an information pack.  No pressure, just ask any questions you have and then decide if this is for you.

Okay now its time to hop along to the next blog stop - the lovely Ros Davidson

Hope you enjoy the blog hop and I'll be seeing you very soon.

Nikki

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