October 2010 Retreat!!!!!

Hi all!!!

I know it's been AGES since I've posted anything here!!! I'm really trying to change that and I'm working on it!!

Anyway, I am in the process of organising this year's annual Stamping Retreat in Bacchus Marsh. The retreat starts on Friday evening and finishes Monday afternoon over the weekend of 1st October to 4th October 2010.

I still have a few places left.

If I can get a few more people, the cost will be no more than A$120 per person. Now, the cost does not include food, however, everyone who attends is responsible for one aspect of one meal (excluding breakfast - we all take our own brekkies!!!).

It's a great weekend away to relax and do whatever crafty thing takes your fancy!!!

If you're interested, please contact me (soon please so I can make arrangements!!!)

Look forward to updating you with some more news soon!!!

Cav

The Spring Mini is here!!!!!

OK, OK, so this is all becoming a bit of a joke now - just how often DO I update my blog? Answer - not as often as I should or as I'd like to!!!!



But, we have just launched our new Spring Mini which runs from 1 August 2009 to 30 November 2009 and it is absolutely jam packed with goodies. Beautiful new stamp sets. Gorgeous DSP's. Fantastic accessories. And something I've been waiting for, for a while now, White StazOn Ink pads and reinkers and StazOn Cleaner - wooooo hooooo!!!! I'm truly excited.



I was able to take advantage of Stampin' Up!'s generous offer to us demonstrators, and pre-order a goodly portion of the new products. Which worked out great as I had a Workshop booked for 2 August - not only did we do a card from the new Mini as a make & take, but I was able to have a showcase of samples that I made using all new products. I gave myself a mission - to use each and every stamp from each and every new stamp set I pre-ordered. I also vowed to use something of every accessory and at least one piece of DSP on my projects.



So, here are the showcase of cards and projects I made as my samples.


Stamp Sets: Great Friend, Oval All
Colours: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Kraft, Whisper White
DSP: Parisian Breeze Specialty
Special Tools/Accessories: Scallop Oval Punch, Jumbo Brads (5/16" - Chocolate Chip & White), Corduroy Brad (Baja Breeze), Chocolate Chip 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon
Techniques: Double Pocket Card






Stamp Sets: Great Friend
Colours: Basic Black, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette
DSP: None
Special Tools/Accessories: Crystal Effects, Black Brads, Black Gingham Ribbon
Techniques: None




Stamp Sets: Great Friend
Colours: Sage Shadow, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White
DSP: None
Special Tools/Accessories: Paper Snips, Sticky Strip, Clear Rhinestone Brads, Clear Embossing Powder & Heat Gun (Butterfly has been embossed), Scallop Edge Punch, Small and Large Tag Punches
Techniques: Popcorn Box


Stamp Sets: Gallery, Oval All
Colours: Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Whisper White
DSP: Parisian Breeze Specialty
Special Tools/Accessories: Paper Snips, Sticky Strip, Large Oval Punch
Techniques: Pizza Box




Stamp Sets: Gallery, Best Yet, Lovely As A Tree
Colours: Whisper White, Old Olive, Real Red, Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip
DSP: Ski Slope
Special Tools/Accessories: Scallop Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Jumbo Brad (5/8" - Chocolate Chip), Old Olive 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon
Techniques: Reverse Masking


Stamp Sets: Gallery, Sweet Little Sentiments, Great Friend
Colours: Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Whisper White
DSP: Urban Garden
Special Tools/Accessories: Word Window Punch, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Designer Label Punch, Paper Snips, Tombow Glue, Superfine Glitter, Dimensionals, Paper Piercer, White Gel Pen
Techniques: Paper Piercing and Paper Piecing




Stamp Sets: Oval All
Colours: Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red
DSP: None
Special Tools/Accessories: Wide Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, Real Red 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Dimensionals
Techniques: None




Stamp Sets: Oval All
Colours: Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Kraft
DSP: Parisian Breeze Specialty
Special Tools/Accessories: Large Oval Punch, Small Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, 5/8" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon
Techniques: None


This is a copy of the Choo Choo card used in the Spring Mini, and this is a view of the Card closed.


View of Choo Choo card open


Stamp Sets: Choo Choo, Defining Alphabet, Best Yet, Occasions for All, Right on Track (Std Wheel)
Colours: Old Olive, Whisper White, Rose Red, Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue, Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black, Going Gray
DSP: None
Special Tools/Accessories: Paper Snips, Dimensionals, Standard Wheel Handle & Basic Black Ink Cartridge, Black Gingham, SAMJ,
Techniques: Paper Piecing

Stamp Sets: Forest Friends, Oval All

Colours: Night of Navy, Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Summer Sun

DSP: None

Special Tools/Accessories: Wide Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Bashful Blue Taffeta Ribbon, Sponges, Acetate

Techniques: Reflection Technique

Stamp Sets: Forest Friends, Sweet Little Sentiments

Colours: More Mustard, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Baja Breeze

DSP: Walk in the Park

Special Tools/Accessories: Daubers, Sponges, SAMJ, 1/4" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain, Black Brads, Paper Snips, 1 3/8" Square Punch

Techniques: Faux Wooden Frame

This card is a CASE (Copy) of the card in the Mini Catalogue - I just changed the colours a bit and added some DSP.

Stamp Sets: Forest Friends, Baroque Motifs

Colours: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Kraft

DSP: Parisian Breeze Specialty

Special Tools/Accessories: Paper Snips, Designer Brads - Flower Assortment, Chocolate Chip 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, Dimensionals

Techniques: None

Stamp Sets: Sense of Time

Colours: Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Kraft, Baja Breeze, Whisper White

DSP: Parisian Breeze Specialty

Special Tools/Accessories: Paper Snips, Sponges, Clear Embossing Powder & Heat Gun, 5/8" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon

Technique: Cracked Glass Technique

Stamp Sets: Sense of Time

Colours: Basic Black, Whisper White, Gold, Kraft

DSP: Urban Oasis

Special Tools/Accessories: Paper Snips, Acetate, StazOn White, Gold Embossing Powder & Heat Gun, Gold Brads

Techniques: Stamping on Acetate, Faux Metal

This is another direct CASE (Copy) from the Spring Mini - I just added a little bit more to the background and changed the colours slightly to use our new In-Color range.

Stamp Sets: Unchartered Territory

Colours: Baja Breeze, Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss, Creamy Caramel, More Mustard, Whisper White

DSP: None

Special Tools/Accessories: White StazOn, Acetate, SAMJ

Techniques: Stamping on Acetate, Paper Piecing

Well, what do you think? How great are these new stamp sets, DSP and accessories? If you want to know more or if you're in my area to book a Workshop, then please feel free to contact me.

See you all soon!!!!

Cav

Victorian Bushfires - February 2009

OK, I've been absent from my Blog for what seems like forever. Hopefully, this will be the first of many new blog posts. It seems only fitting that my first blog back should be in response to the Victorian Bushfires.



"Black Saturday" - Saturday, 7 February 2009 - will be a day many of us will never forget. It was the hottest day on record in Victoria with temperates soaring to above 46 degrees (C). We'd all heard and seen the warnings that this weekend and this day in particular, was going to be hot and it was going to be dangerous. No-one predicted how dangerous and how deadly it actually turned out to be.



Over 210 people perished; at least 30 people are still missing as I type this post; over 2,000 homes destroyed; over 7,000 people homeless. This has been the worst bushfire in Australian history. Our hearts, thoughts and prayers go out to all of those people directly affected by this terrible and tragic event.



As this blog is a "crafting" blog, I am proud to advise all of my readers that both Stampin' Up and Splitcoaststampers.com, two organisations that I am very closely associated with, are doing their bit to help out my fellow Victorians.



Firstly, Stampin' Up are donating 50% of all sales from 10 nominated stamp sets, for the period from 12 February 2009 to 31 March 2009 (Australia only). To date, the total amount raised as of 5 March 2009 is, $58,131.68 . If you wish to be a part of Stampin' Up's efforts for the bushfire, then please click on the link to the right of this page to visit Stampin' Up's website for details. Please contact me directly if you would like to purchase any of these sets before 31 March 2009 (Australian Residents Only).




Secondly, Splitcoaststampers.com is running a "non-raffle" to help support Bushfire Victims. They are encouraging site visitors to donate to The Australian Red Cross, via the Splitcoast website. A US$5 donation will earn you a ticket into the draw to win one of many, MANY prizes. Again, click on the link to the right of this post to visit Splitcoaststampers.com to get all the details and to make your donation.

OK people - short and sweet this post, but I'm sure you'll all understand why. This post needs it's own space.





I look forward to posting something special again for you all soon.


Cav

Another post in a week - what the????

Yes it is true readers, I have managed to drag myself here and make another post this week - strange, but true!!!!! I wanted to share another special little card that I discovered this week. This is a "Never Ending Card" - there's directions everywhere for it and I found mine on SCS - Dawn3577 - what a legend. This card is so simple when you know how. The picture at the top doesn't do it justice, so I've added a video for you to see how it actually "works". If anyone is interested in learning how to make these, let me know and I'll be happy to demo it for you.

Nothing much has been happening this week apart from lots of illness here at home. We rushed Maggie to hospital on Friday night with a very high temp. I spent a good portion of this week in bed absolutely knocked out with sinusitis (yuck!!!!!) - it's a good thing Jerry is well!!!!!

OK, I'm off to get ready for some VSN action this weekend on SCS. If you haven't experienced it yet, you should. It kicks of at 6pm (CT) Friday night in the US (22nd August) which is 8am EST Australian Time Saturday morning. We now only have about 14 hours to go - guess who's excited????

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about - VSN stands for "Virtual Stamping Night" - except it goes for 2 days LOL!!!!! There are usually around 18 challenges posted. 6 on Friday night (US time) and 12 on Saturday, every hour on the hour from set times. The challenges range from sketches/layouts to techniques and themes. The overall weekend has a theme and this weekend is Book weekend. We have 45 minutes to complete each challenge and then 15 minutes to photograph, upload the photo to SCS and clean up, ready for the next challenge. Sounds constrictive, but it's not. It's done on the honour system. If you're late starting, that's fine - you start the challenges whenever you can, but once you start, you time yourself to make sure you don't go over the 45 minutes.

It should be heaps of fun and I hope to be able to share with you all next week some of the cards I make.

Until then, I hope you all have a great weekend and Happy Stamping!!!!!

Cav

I sure hope it's been worth the wait ........

Well, again, it's been a long time between drinks my friends. But I certainly hope that this little project will have been worth the wait for you!!!! A Flip Book - another fabulous 3-D item that I'm sure will appeal to Scrapbookers - and it makes a totally do-able gift. (Christmas is just around the corner people!!!)

I discovered this awesome little project while surfing a few crafty blogs the other day. This gem comes from the very talented Amy Celona. You can check out her blog here. It's truly awesome what Amy has there - in fact, you can even go there and check out her original Flip Book and get the full directions on how to make it. And, if you're interested in seeing more pic's of my Flip Book, then check out my gallery on SCS sometime tomorrow (to give me a chance to upload all the pic's).

The subject for my Flip Book is the first ever Petting Zoo Maggie visited. It was at one of her best friend's 1st Birthday Party and Naming Day. It was a circus themed party - and Oh what a party - it will certainly be a long time before that effort will be topped!!!!! But the one thing that Maggie really got into was the Petting Zoo. And it was a great opportunity for her Daddy to share some quality time with her. I thought that the series of photos that I'd taken deserved a special presentation. Ta-dah - the Flip Book!!!!!

Now that I've done one, I'm thinking that this would be an awesome way for me to spread the word about what we've been up to this year - you know, a Christmas gift for family members living far away. Well, I only have a few short months left to get them done if that's the case - LOL!!!!!

In other news - I've been very busy working on my Stamp Camp coming up in September. I've actually extended the numbers to 10 people from 8 as I had another 2 friends who were interested. I'm extremely excited and have this week put in my order with SU for all the supplies I will need. Of course, the Stamp Camp meant that I had to buy 4 new stamp sets - how terrible!!!!!! Hehehehehe - can't wait to get my hands on them. And I had to purchase some more DSP - such a shame!!!!!!!

Well, that's all for now I guess. As Stamp Camp nears closer, I will try my best to get some more entries here for you all to read. In the meantime, happy stamping to all of you!!!!

Cav

I hope no-one was holding their breath .........

I really need to get better at this blogging caper!!!!! I apologise to my "avid readers" for not posting for a number of weeks - again. But I have been very, VERY busy. In addition to making heaps of cards and doing a few Workshops, I have actually been completing some requirements for some Recognised Prior Learning towards a Certificate I need in order to further my career in my "real" job. And of course I've been doing my "real" job, in addition to being a stay-at-home-Mum to Maggie, wife, chief cook and bottle washer - you all know how it is!!!!!

I've also been busy organising my first ever Stamp Camp - I'm soooooo excited!!!! It will be a small affair with just 8 lovely ladies joining me (I believe I have 7 confirmed at this stage with one more spot to fill!!!) It is all happening in September and we are doing a Christmas Theme. I have 8 projects planned - some are really quick and easy and others are a little more involved (yes, the Double Pocket Bag will be making a special return - this time in Christmas form!!!) I have so much to plan, but I love doing that side of it. And I want the day to be a heap of fun, so I'm planning on doing some special door prizes for my guests. I intend keeping everyone updated on my plans here.

Anyhooooo, needless to say, there's been so much going on all over the place, that I have neglected my blog. Until now!!!

So, the above card is one I made today for the SCS Colour and Sketch challenges for this week (I combined the challenges to make one card). Once I'd finished it, I thought it worthy of a special blog post as I used a technique I hadn't tried before.

The technique involves inking a stamp in Versamark before inking it in a colour (here I used Barely Banana and Groovy Guava). I then stamped the images and added some Heat & Stick powder before hitting it with the heat gun. This allowed me to then add some Dazzling Diamonds, heated the images again, and viola - a couple of very sparkly, pretty flowers - don't ya' think?????? Well, I liked it anyway.

So, the Sketch challenge on SCS simply provides me with the layout of the card and the colour challenge this week was to use Barely Banana, Groovy Guava and Chocolate Chip. With any colour challenge, we can add in neutrals so here, I used Very Vanilla - it's a lot softer with these colours as Whisper White can sometimes look a little too, "clean"!!!!!

I hope you like the card and if you're not quite sure on the technique and would like to know more, then please let me know. For those lucky ladies attending my Stamp Camp in September, rest assured, that you will be using this technique on one of the projects we'll be doing - I'm sure you will absolutely love it!!!!!

Well, I believe I've rambled on long enough now. I would like to post a special mention for a dear friend of our family in Perth who lost her father-in-law on Sunday. It was a bit of a shock and comes just under 6 months of her losing her mother-in-law. My thoughts are with Rhonda, her husband Garry and their family at this time.

OK - now this time I absolutely PROMISE, I won't be away for so long - especially now that I have my Stamp Camp to write about!!!!

Happy Stamping everyone!!!!!

It's been how long?????

OMGoodness!!!!! I've just realised it's been over a month since I last updated my Blog. I have been lazy, haven't I???? LOL!!!!

Well, I have been busy - working, doing some workshops, more working, family - you all know how it is. Most importantly though, I've maintained my stamping regime. I think I'm only about 10 or 15 cards off of my goal (1 card a day for the year!!!) Not too bad with all things considered.

But I realised I hadn't posted here for ages and, after completing today's SCS Challenge (Technique Lover's Challenge), I thought that this would be the perfect project to post here.

This is a Double Pocket Bag - and you wouldn't believe how easy it is to make. If you'd like to have a go at one yourself, then check out this link:

Double Pocket Bag Tutorial (SCS)

I used some of my Spring Flowers DSP for this one and I chose this particular piece because the paper reminded me of a well-used handbag. The inside is So Saffron and Mellow Moss with Very Vanilla and so those are the colours I chose for the decorative front panel. I cheated a little bit here and used some Non SU diamentes to decorate my sentiment. But I did take the opportunity to use two of my new sets (Baroque Motifs and For a Friend) and I used one of my new Rhinestone Brads (Circle - Ice). Love these new products!!!!!

Well, life for us has been, as I said before, pretty busy over the last few weeks. The most important development for me is that I have booked a trip to Perth for October to see my family and friends - and I'm taking Maggie with me!!!! I'm pretty excited as she's never flown, I haven't been to Perth since January 2005 and (this is the biggie), my Dad is yet to meet his one and only grandchild!!!!!! Maggie will 3 months shy of turning 3 by the time we get there. I can't wait. It will be fantastic to catch up with friends and family that I haven't seen in almost 3 years (in some cases longer!!!!). We've all had babies and so it will be great to meet each other's little ones too. Unfortunately, Jerry won't be able to come along, but as he said, "someone has to stay behind to look after the dogs and the cat and the house" - he's a sweetheart!!!!!!

So, over the coming months, I'm sure you'll notice a countdown somewhere on this blog (if I can figure out how to do that!!!!). In the meantime, I will try to make it back here a bit more regularly. And thanks to everyone who has left comments - including those that tagged me (I will get around to doing that by the way!!!!!)

Have a great day everyone!!!

Hugs!!

Cav