Clear mounted stamp sets...

Hi There,
I told you there was more news coming about some groovy new items in our mini catty, well here's the scoop on the wonderful new clear mounted stamp sets and thier very ergonomic clear acrylic blocks....

Over the past few years, there has been enormous demand from demonstrators and customers alike for a line of repositionable clear-mount rubber stamps. Well, you asked for it, and now you have it! Starting with stamps in the 2010 Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue, Stampin' Up! now offers our exclusive stamp art in both traditional wood-mount, and the new clear-mount option. Our new clear-mount rubber stamps are the result of extensive research with the intent to maintain the very best image quality in the stamping industry, while at the same time offering the ease-of-use and storability inherent in repositionable clear-mount rubber stamps. Clear-Mount Rubber Stamp Features
Nine different sizes of clear blocks available individually or as a discounted bundle.
Blocks have ergonomic grooves on all four sides for easy grip and traditional wood-mount feel.
Stamps and blocks are durable and easy to clean with your Stampin' Scrub and Stampin' Mist.
Optional image labels on stamp backs let you decide if you want to see the image through the block or not.
Tight die-cutting for easy image positioning.
Large clear blocks can be used to create collages or spell words with alphabet sets.
Stamps store easily in standard, DVD-type cases with artwork on front and spine, making organization easy.

There's a new Big Shot in town....

There's a new big shot in town--the Sizzix Big Shot for Stampin' Up! The Big Shot is a sturdy manual die cutting machine used to die cut materials for use on crafts, home décor projects, and even clothing--it's a big deal! You'll love what the Big Shot machine--a six-time winner of Creating Keepsakes Reader's Choice Award for best die cutting equipment and dies--can do for you.
Design your own custom pillow appliqués using the Scallop Circle Bigz die or make custom fabric flowers to embellish a quilt. From sewing to quilting to home décor, the Big Shot is the perfect tool for many types of crafting. The wide appeal to various types of crafters will help you expand your business in new circles. The Big Shot makes incorporating paper crafting into these customers' hobby an easy progression. Use our Stampin' Up! exclusive dies to create die cuts and stencils with our artwork and designs for all your craft needs.
Cut out eight of the same chipboard letter or 20 scalloped pennants in just a few minutes. You'll be able to cut and score 3-D items in seconds, and the projects will be ready for you to enjoy. Or create embellishments for cards, scrapbook pages, or any other type of project by cutting multiple images at once. The Big Shot works with ALL competitive dies, and the steel rule dies can cut through an impressive list of 50 different materials, including fabric, foil, and chipboard.

I will be showing some different projects that I have made using this incredible machine in the next few days, including some made with fabric. I'd love to show you some of the amazing things the Big shot is capable of doing, so why not book a work shop with some friends and I'll pop over to wow! you all. Contact me here to make a date to have some Stmapin'Up!® fun.

Stay tuned for more information on some more new arrivals in the Stampin'Up! family. Inky hugs from .......

Colour renovations....

Hi There, I hope you are enjoying your blog browse. I thought you might like to know about some pretty special Stampin'Up! news. We are having a colour renovation to meet up with all the new colour trends that can be found in our everyday lives, such as textiles, fashion, house furnishings etc. Stampin'Up! wants us to keep up with all the modern trends of today's society and to do this they have devised a wonderful new colour family for us. We will be keeping 24 current colours and saying hello to 5 brand new colours, as well as bringing back 10 well loved in-colours from the past. One of our Neutral colours Kraft has been given a new name and will be known as Crumb Cake.

Every year we will be given 5 new in colours and these gorgeous colours will stay with us for two years, so 5 this year (In Sept) then 5 next year which means after this year, we will have 10 in-colours to work with. What joy! I always hated saying goodbye to the in-colours just when I was starting to love them.

There will be lots more info about this colour change in the near future, but none of these changes will take place for us here in Australia until our new annual catalogue arrives in September. So start collecting any of the leaving colours that you love, along with their re-inkers and any other coordinating accessories before September this year.
If you would like to view the new colour charts which show these changes please click on the charts above.

Some flowers for you...

Hello there,
I hope this finds you all well and for those of you who are not "Get well soon". I made this card with the lovely Sale-a-bration set Happy moments, I've also used some Bella Rose dsp and some gorgeous Pink Pirouette ribbon, also some Riding hood red taffeta ribbon. I coloured the image in with an aqua brush and ink pads, which I then punched out with the 1 1/4 square punch, this sat inside the card through the punched out 1 3/8 square hole. Hope you like it, thanks for stopping by. Lots of inky hugs from....

The Ferrymen...

Hello there fellow blog surfers,

I wonder if my regular visitors have noticed a new button on the left hand side of my blog, well I'm proud to say that my hubby's band have now got themselves a web site to show case a bit of their music. The Ferrymen are a trio consisting of my hubby who plays the mandolin, banjo and guitar and also sings, Chris who is a very talented flute, tin whistle and Irish bodhran (a hand held drum) player and last but not least is Ian, who plays guitar and is the lead singer. The band plays Irish and Scottish folk music. They are in the process of recording another CD and hope to have it finished soon, my DH has written and composed some new songs for them and hopes to add these to the new CD as well. So if you would like to hear a sample of their music please pop over to the Ferrymen web site by clicking on the logo above or the one which is now permanently on the left hand side pf my blog and click on the music box to listen to some of the songs they play at their gigs, don't forget to put on your sound. Have fun and let me know what you think, lots of inky and musical hugs from....

A beautiful lantern...

Hello there paper crafters,

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and you found time to get inky. I didn't get inky, but I did have a wonderful weekend. I thought I would upload this picture of a card that I made some time ago with the gorgeous set called Eastern Influences. The paper is from the Bella Bleu pack, I stamped the images onto the Whisper white card stock and then put the card stock through the paper crimper (what a wonderful, yet very under used tool). The blossom was coloured in with an aqua brush and the ink pads as palettes. I sponged the edges with some pretty in pink.

Hope you like it, thanks for visiting me, lots of inky hugs from ......

Duck, Duck Goose!

Hello and happy Friday to ya, I know what you're thinking...Charmaine's got into scrapbooking! Well I must admit I'm certainly enjoying exploring with scrapbooking at the moment and I'm getting a bit better with the help of the very talented scrapbookers like Andrea Walford for this one above. I made this one for a demo at a party I did a while back. I really enjoyed putting this one together, of course it was fun because of the cute duck from the Wagon full of fun set. I love to water colour and that duck just lends himself to be coloured in that way. Instead of inking him up the usual way on an ink pad, I used my choc chip marker and missed out his feet, so as to give the illusion he is swimming on a pond. I used the circle scissors plus to make the circles of card stock in the middle of the page and the sentiment is from the curvy verses set. I hope you like it.
Thanks so much for stopping by, take care and enjoy you're weekend. Lots of inky hugs from ....

Fantasy stepper box.

Hello out there in blog land,

I hope you are all having a pleasant blurf (blog surf). I made this box a while ago and just love these colours. I used some of our classy Urban Garden designer papers along with some Not Quite Navy card stock. Some silver brads were used on the draw fronts and a stylish Baja Breeze corduroy button was used on the top of the box lid. The first time I made one of these boxes was at our Stamp camp last year, which was organised by our very clever and generous Ngaire Anderson. Every year Ngaire and some of her trusty helpers put together a fun filled weekend situated in the beautiful Swanleigh in WA. We get together for swaps, tutorials and lots of laughs, it's one of the many benefits of being part of this amazing Stampin'Up! ® Family. The friendships alone are worth every penny of that starter kit, not to mention all the wonderful opportunities we are given to earn free stamp sets and goodies from our colourful and inspirational catalogues. If you want to know more about becoming a Stampin'Up! family member and joining this fun filled journey with me, please contact me for a free no obligation information pack or go to my Stampin'Up! web site HERE

and click on the "Start your own business" button to see more information on becoming a demonstrator. I'd love to hear from you and welcome you to my team, lots of inky hugs from ....

Designer bags....

Hello there and happy Sunday to you.
I am here in a very peaceful empty house, so I thought I would come into my computer room to send you all some inky love. This picture shows one bag ( Blue and Pink) which was made for me by my very lovely up-line Makeesha and the other one which I made using the very classy DSP Bella Bleu. I love making 3D items and these bags are so quick and easy to make, I hope you like them. Thanks for visiting with me, take care and happy stamping. Lots of inky hugs from .....

Blog candy winner....

Hello all, I know this should of been announced yesterday on my blog, but I have had a few computer problems to say the least! I won't bore you with details but please accept my apologies and congratulate the winner who is....Drum roll please.......................................
SHANDELL. Your name was pulled out of my plastic microwave rice cooker by my husband, so please write to me with your details so that I can send off your goodies asap. This is my personal blog candy and those of you who commented on all the blogs in the blog hop and then wrote to Sharlene will also be in the running to win some more blog candy. Oh well, off to bed, I'll post a new photo tomorrow, take care all, lots of inky hugs from ......

Hello there blog surfers, I hope your having a relaxing day and enjoying some eye candy on a few blogs. I don't often make scrapbook pages and for me to upload two quite close together is very unusual. I made this page quite some time ago now, but thought it went rather nicely with the page I did for hubby's great grandmother Grace in an earlier post. I used the Thoughts and prayers set, the friends wheeel and the oval all set. Some buttons and a half back pearl from the preties kit, I hope you like it. Thanks for visiting with me, take care, lots of inky hugs from ....

Blog hop round 2....

Hello there, just in case you didn't know, today is the second round of the new Autumn/Winter ESAD blog hop. so if you would like to take a look at some more amazing eye candy and get some inspiration on how to use all the new yummy things in the new mini, just pop over to Kristine's blog HERE and start hopping. Have fun, lots of inky hugs from...

Vintage page.

Hello there, I sincerely hope you all had a very pleasant and peaceful Easter. We were blessed with both our children, one with her gorgeous partner and also my mother-in-law who all came for a big roast dinner after church. Of course the Easter bunny had been up busy the night before, hiding 150 mini eggs all over the house. It's been a tradition in our house ever since the girls were little and even though they are now in their twenties, we still have to do it, my daughter's boyfriend thinks it's great fun and looks forward to it every year. I hope you enjoyed the blog hop, thank you for all the lovely comments which are still coming in.
This page was made a while ago now, but I thought you might like to see it, it is a photo of my hubby's great great grandmother Grace. I have mounted the photo onto close to cocoa which has been put through the crimper, this is then layered onto some very vanilla, then onto a thin border of Choc chip. This all sits on a piece of Very Vanilla which I have stamped the background stamp called Weathered in creamy caramel. The Memories stamp is from one of my very favourite sets called Life definitions and the ripped piece is stamped with En Francais. I hope you like it, I'm back into my shabby chic style at the moment and having fun with lots of ink and sponging. Take care, lots of inky hugs from....

Welcome Blog Hoppers...

Hello and welcome to my blog, I hope you have enjoyed the hop so far and that you are getting lots of inspiration from all the talented ESADers (Extra Special Australian and New Zealand demonstrators) for Stampin'Up! ®. You should of just arrived from Bron Heslop's blog where I'm sure you had a treat for your eyes. Some of you may have stopped by this blog before and know all about the group ESAD that I belong to, but for those of you don't, you might like to know a bit about it. ESAD is an on-line group for demos from Australia and New Zealand, we have lots of tips and ideas to help you with your Stampin'Up! business, as well as lots of fun challenges, chats and updates on any current Stampin'Up! news. If you are a demo and think you would like to join this dynamic group, you can do so by going HERE and clicking on the join now button.
Now onto the viewing of some projects made with some wonderful new products from our New Autumn-Winter mini catalogue, this mini is quite possibly the most exciting one ever released, it has so many new tools and accessories as well as some beautiful new stamp sets which are available in the traditional wood mount and now also in the new clear mount style. This is an option for those of you who are short on space, as they are stored in a compact DVD style case.
This card has been made using the new style punch called the extra large two step bird, it cuts out this bird along with a pretty branch with leaves and a separate wing to add to your bird if you so wish. I have put the birds onto the stamped grass image from Inspired by Nature set found in the main catalogue. They are stamped onto the top note die which was cut out using the new Big Shot machine, this machine can cut out over fifty different materials. I was inspired to make this card after seeing a tutorial on it by the ever so talented brayer queen Michelle Zindorf. I sponged the top note with Apricot Appeal, Really Rust, Bravo Burgundy and Basic Black ink. The card stock is Apricot Appeal, Really Rust and Basic Black, the top note die was Whisper White.

The next card uses the Pretty rose from the set called Fifth Ave Floral which can be found in the main Catalogue, it is mounted onto the top note which has been cut out using the Big Shot machine, the little leaves die was also used for the foliage that you can see behind the rose. This water colour technique is one I found on the net shown by Patty Bennett, but there are several versions of it floating around. The dies and the Big Shot machine are a new release in the Autumn-Winter mini.

This next card was made using the fabulous new set called Vintage Vogue, I can assure you that you will be seeing a lot more of this set from me in the near future, I LOVE it! I also love this new in-colour called Rich Razzleberry, it's so yummy. I used some Whisper White 1/4'' gros grain ribbon which I dyed with some Pale Plum re-inker to embellish the bottom of this card. I also used the wonderful jumbo Wheel called Very Vintage onto some Pale Plum card stock.

I thought it might be nice to have something sweet to go with the card above, so I used my Big Shot Machine to cut out the pillow box die in Clear Window sheet (acetate). That way you can see the yummy goodies inside your treat holder. The stamp set used was Vintage Vogue and the inks used were Rich Razzleberry and Pale Plum. I put a little pink rhinestone brad, from the Circle Fire brads in the center of the flower for a bit of sparkle.

This card has been made with the stamp set called Cottage Garden, The designer paper is from the beautiful Cottage Wall pack, I used the Trio Flower punch and the Crop-A-Dile to make little embellishments as well as the Eyelet Border punch along the bottom of the designer paper. Rich Razzleberry ink was used to stamp up the images onto Whisper White and Orchid Opulence card stock.

This next project is made with the stamp set called Cottage Garden, the Big Shot was used to cut out the Fancy Favour box die in Rich Razzleberry Card stock and the designer paper is from the Cottage Wall pack. Once again the yummy Rich Razzleberry and Pale Plum ink was used to stamp out the images onto Whisper White card stock. This stamp set is available in Wood mount or clear mount options as shown here.

Thank you for visiting with me and sharing the excitement of this wonderful new mini, if you would like to take a look at the new mini and all it's wonder, just click on the picture of the mini on the top right hand side of my blog or you can contact me for a free copy. don't forget to leave me a comment and I will anounce the winner of some blog candy next week on the 9th of April. There are so many of us doing this blog hop that we were sure it was just too much eye candy for one day, so there is another hop on the 7th of April with some different demonstrators to wow you. I'm sure you need some chocolate and another cuppa by now, so get yourself comfy and then continue your viewing pleasure at Claire Harrison's blog HERE.