Custom Baubles

My sister recently bought me some clear glass baubles from Spotlight - they are so much fun because you can decorate them however you like!
For the one above I have stamped the crab, from the stamp set Crab & Co, onto acetate using Black Staz On & then coloured it using some Sharpie pens from Woolworths. I love Staz On ink - it gives such a crisp clear image & can be stamped onto glass or plastic & when dry it won't rub off. Once the image was coloured, I rolled it up to fit through the hole at the top of the bauble - the acetate will unroll once it is inside the bauble & you will be able to see the image. I've also added abit of sand from the kids sandpit in the bottom - I would have loved to add afew shells as well, but the ones we brought home from our last trip to the coast are too big, so I had to make do with afew rocks instead.

For the next one I have rolled up some 1/2" x 6" pieces of scrap Bali Breeze Double Sided paper & put inside. I also adhered a Rub On onto the other side. I'm hoping to find some time to try our afew more ideas for my custom made baubles in the next few days.

Tying up Christmas

Not organised for Christmas yet? Need to make some last minute cards? Still need to buy those last minute gifts? Well during December simply spend $20 on any product & Stampin' Up! will give you 20% off a great range of selected items that are sure to help you 'Tie up Christmas'. Click here to see the full list of discounted products. The stampsets would be great for Christmas cards, the calendars & punch box wonderful gifts & I'm buying some of the wide grosgrain ribbon to tie around presents. One of my clever downline made these cards using the Festive Favourites stampset that happens to be available for 20% off this month - thanks to Mandy for allowing me to share them with you.

I love the little tag on this one. The stamp from this set fits perfectly in to the tag punch & by using both the small & large one, you can create a cute layered tag

Stampset: Festive Favourites

Cardstock: Whisper White, Real Red

Ink: Black Staz On, Real Red

Accessories: Real Red, Chocolate Chip & Creamy Caramel Markers, 2 way glue, Dazzling Diamonds, White Grosgrain Ribbon, Small & Large Tag Punches

I love how Mandy has used the Dazzling Diamonds on this card - aren't those snowmen cute! She has also used Many Merry Messages, which is also available foat 20% off once you spend $20

Stampset: Festive Favourites, Many Merry Messages

Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Whisper White

Ink: Blue Bayou, Black Staz On, White Craft Ink

Accessories: Bashful Blue & Certainly Celery Markers, 2 way glue, Dazzling Diamonds

Christmas ATC's

It doesn't take much to sidetrack me & since the arrival of my Summer Mini products I have abandoned my Christmas projects. It is way past time that I got organised & actually made my Chrissy cards, especially since Christmas is now only 3 weeks away !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! These are the ATC's I made for last months swap & I forgot to post them here.

Stampsets: Peaceful Wishes, Short & Sweet

Cardstock: Purely Pomegranite, Always Artichoke, Whisper White

Inks: Purely Pomegranite, Always Artichoke

Accessories: Pomegranite Satin Ribbon, Pewter Brad, Blender Pen (to colour the berries pomegranite)

Summer Mini Love

Things I LOVE in the new Stampin' Up! Summer Mini Catalogue:

• Scallop Edge Punch - no more using my corner rounder for scallop edges YAY!
• 1" Double-Stitched Ribbon - I thought this ribbon might be too wide & therfore hard to tie in a knot or bow, but I am happy to report that it is not. It is soooooo nice, I just love it & have already used almost a whole roll of the Rose Red
• Bali Breeze Double Sided Papers - the colours are just gorgeous & I'm having lots of fun using them

I really love just about everything in the catalogue really, but for the purpose of this post I will only list the items I actually used on the cards :-)

These cards were for a recent card swap I was involved in. I couldn't decide which colour I liked best, so made both

I coloured the word in using my Taken with Teal marker, then covered with 2 way glue & Dazzling Diamonds.


I also challenged myself to make a scrapbook page using a white background & am really happy with how it turned out. I used the same colours as the cards & have done the wording the same - although you can't see the diamonds in the pic.

Stampsets: Big on Spring, In the Spotlight (hostess set)

Papers: Whisper White, Taken with Teal, Regal Rose, Bali Breeze DSP

Inks: Rose Red, Taken with Teal, Versamark, Black Staz On

Accessories: Scallop Edge & Scallop Circle Punch, 1" Double Stitched Ribbon, 2 Way Glue, Dazzling Diamonds

Hello Summer Mini

If you haven't got a copy of the new Stampin' Up! Summer mini catalogue, then you'd better let me know so I can send you one, or you could also click on the link on the right to check it out on the Stampin' Up! website. It has some really gorgeous stampsets & other fun products & the colours are so bright & fresh.

For last month's INKlings ATC swap I used one of the new sets I prepurchased, called Embrace Life - it is such a lovely set & there is also matching Double Sided Papers available. I didn't have enough Rhinestones Brads to make all my swaps the one colour, so had to mix it up abit & ended up using Pumpkin Pie, Real Red, Purely Pomegranite & Blue Bayou

The theme was 'sparkles' so I have also added some Dazzling Diamonds to the flower, which has been stamping using Staz On onto Watercolour Paper & coloured with my Aquapainter & ink.It is fairly simple, but I am very happy with how they turned out.

Stampset: Embrace Life
Ink: Black Staz on, Blue Bayou, Purely Pomegranite, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red, Wild Wasabi, Old Olive
Paper: Watercolour Paper, Blue Bayou, Purely Pomegranite, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories: Rhinestone Brads, 2 Way Glue, Dazzling Diamonds, Aquapainter, White Gel Pen

Goodbye Holiday Harmony

The Spring Mini has now finished & I will be sad to see Holiday Harmony double sided papers gone - I made this project to enter in Shelli's Happy Holiday Creative Challenge. I'm not really sure what you would call it, but I will be adding some pics of the kids & using it on the centre of my table over Christmas. As it folds flat you can also mail it, so I may even make one to send to my Grandma. Here it is closed & folded flat.

You untie the ribbon to open.

& can retie the ribbon to keep it opened out. There are four sections, so you can add lots of photo's, I also think it would look cute with a small nativity scene in each section - ETA I found a cute little nativity that fits perfectly, you can see it here!

Stampset: Party Punch (hostess set)

Papers: Purely Pomegranite, Always Artichoke, Holiday Harmony DSP

Ink: Purely Pomegranite, Encore Silver

Accessories: Hand Selected Accents & Elements, Styled Silver Hodgepodge, Rub Ons, Theater Ribbon Originals, Double Stitched Pomegranite

Boxes, Bags, Baubles & Bows

These are some of the projects I will be showing you how to make if you come along to my Boxes, Bags, Baubles & Bows class on Saturday morning - send me an email if you are planning on coming along - alana@aussiebroadband.com.au

Now for any overseas visitors who may not know what a 'sausage sizzle' is - it's just a sausage sandwich, usually cooked on a barbeque, hence the 'sizzle'. Quite an Aussie thing, especially in the summer - although I'm not too sure if it technically is a sandwich, as it usually only involves one piece of bread with a snag (sausage) that has been cooked on the barbie (barbeque, BBQ) slapped in the middle, with a good helping of tomato sauce (ketchup - we never use this word :-))

Fabulous Angels

Aren't these the cutest little Angels?? As soon as I saw this one, I had to make it straight away. They are made using the large flower from the Fabulous Flowers stampset.

Once I started I couldn't stop, so made afew colour variations. I can see there will be afew of these on my tree this year.

I was trying to use only Stampin' Up! producst, however I had to used some contraband silver cord. The beads are from the Pretties Kit & the halo is a ribbon slide from the Styled Silver Hodgepodge.

I added some glitter to this one & love how it turned out.

I can't believe there are only 4.5 weeks til Christmas & I have not posted a Christmas card on my blog yet!!! I hope the rectify this soon. In the mean time check out my kids with Santa. We went to our first Christmas party yesterday at the Cuttabri Wine Shanty & had a great time. Santa delivered presents that were kindly donated by the Salvo's & they also put on a free sausage sizzle.

Not sure what Santa is telling Sam here - I hope it was to behave!

This one of Josie cracks me up! She lent in for a cuddle & got abit excited - Santa doesn't look too impressed though.

Cyberstamp & Summer Mini Sneak Peak

Last week the INKlings had our monthly cyberstamp & it was my turn to set the challenges. I was going to try & resist using products from the upcoming Summer Mini as they aren't available to customers yet, but I couldn't help myself.

First up was a colour challenge inspired by my new favourite papers Bali Breeze - Rose Red, Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise & Pumpkin Pie. Above I have covered some Stampin' Store containers with the gorgeous new double sided papers.

I thought I'd also make a card for the colour challenge & above is my sample using a new stampset Live Your Dream. How do you like the ribbon? It is the new 1" Double-Stitched Rose Red Grosgrain Ribbon & is just gorgeous. It also comes in Chocolate Chip & I have a feeling you will be seeing alot more of it in the future (I've almost used up my preorder roll already)

Next challenge was to make a scrapbook page using a card sketch from Beate Johns. Above is a 6x6 page, once again using the new Bali Breeze papers & if you look in the bottom right hand corner you will see another new product - Flower Fusion felt flowers, they are lots of fun!

The above page uses the same sketch, however it is 12x12. I have used Live Your Dream stampset again & this time teamed it with the co-ordinating Afternoon Tea Double Sided Papers. The beautiful big scallop circle is another new product - Carousel Note.

I hope you enjoyed looking at my cyberstamp efforts, along with abit of a sneak peak at some of the new products that will be in the Summer Mini - available from 1st December 2008.

Christmas Tags & Pouch Tutorial

I thought a tutorial was way overdue, so here is one for a quick, easy & inexpensive gift. I am going to give out afew as early Christmas presents, but they could easily be made up with birthday tags to be used throughout the year.Materials required:
6x6 page protector
8.25" x 6.5" cardstock (I've used Purely Pomegranite)
3.5" x 3" cardstock for tag base
Designer Series Papers (DSP - I've used Holiday Harmony)
Extra cardstock for matting (I've used River Rock, Purely Pomegranite & Always Artichoke)
Word Window Punch
Vintage Brads
Crop-a-dile
Length of ribbon (I've used River Rock Double Stitched Grosgrain)
Stamps (Season of Joy & Tags for All)
Ink (Always Artichoke & Purely Pomegranite)

1st step is to cut the binding holes off the 6x6 page protector.Be careful to cut between the two seams on the side - you can see this clearer in the pic below. You will be left with a clear pouch that is open at the top & has 3 closed sides.

Lay the trimmed page protector onto your 8.25" x 6.5" cardstock as above, lining the bottom edges up. The open end of your pouch should be at the top, with an overhang of cardstock above it

Fold the extra cardstock over the top of the page protector. If you wanted to score this first the measurement is 1.75". At this point you can stamp on the front of the folded cardstock, you may also like to place a 6x6 piece of DSP into the page protector.

Place the page protector back into the folded cardstock, making sure that the open end is under the fold. Using the large hole of the crop-a-dile, punch a hole about 0.5" from the top. Push the crop-a-dile all the way in, on the side of the cardstock. Do this on the other side also.

Thread some ribbon through the holes & tie a bow at the front. Your tag pouch is now finished - on to making the tags to go inside.

For each tag you will need:

3.5" x 3" piece of cardstock

3.5" x 3' piece of DSP torn in half

stamped image from Tags for All

cardstock mat for your stamped image

1 x brad

piece of cardstock punch using the word window punch.

Adhere the layers in the following order - 3.5" x 3" cardstock, torn DSP, cardstock mat, stamped image. Fold the word window punchout in half over the edge of the tag & use the mat pack & paper piercer to pierce a hole through all the layers. Insert your brad through the hole.

Your pouch will easily hold all the above tags & more.

When putting your tags into the pouch, there is no need to unthread the ribbon. The holes will be far enough apart that you can undo the bow, lift the flap & slide the tags in.

I used Stampin' Up! Dashing DSP to make this Christmas Card Pouch, I had also made a sample using Wintergreen DSP, but gave it away before I took a photo of it, so will have to make another one.

HOpe you have enjoyed & understood this tutorial :-)