ESAD December 2018 Holiday Catalogue Blog Hop

Hello everyone!! How exciting is it to be apart of another amazing Blog Hop? It doesn't matter if you are a participant or a voyeur of all the great ideas for such a gorgeous Holiday Catalogue , (these products are available until 2 January, 2019!!), so you still have time to purchase them & create something for yourself!

So you will have come from Monique's stunning page, don't you just love how she has used the Sincerely Santa Project Kit in her creations? Thinking out of the (kit) box is fantastic!! (I've learnt a lot from her over the years of our friendship :)

Did you leave Mon a lovely comment about her work? Go on, make her smile...

And now you are here... On with the show, hey? I havent been active with my Blog, so Im happy to be apart of this one, in particular!!

Here is the first of 2 creations of my own...

Here, I've teamed up the Joyous Noel Designer Series Paper, (DSP) with the So Santa stamp set.  I just love that SU! have listened to us Aussies & have included products that represent our hot summer!!

Using Whisper White, Tranquil Tide & Sahara Sand cardstock, I was simply guided by matching  the DSP to our cardstock & markers - SU! make is so easy to co-ordinate!!

I also used Tranquil Tide, Powder Pink, Cherry Cobbler, Soft Sky, (watercoloured), Daffodil Delight & So Saffron markers to colour in our pasty Santa - hopefully that sun isn't too hot, right!!

Using the Mini Sequin Silver ribbon & our Rhinestones, it gives this card just enough bling!!

I then used a mat of Tranquil Tide with a base of Sahara Sand to finish off this project.

This new item is a card that Ive been looking at for a while now, but thought, "I couldn't possibly make that!!" It's called an Impossible Card & it's certainly not as frightening as I thought!! (Why do we make things to be bigger than they actually are?) Just use google to find a tutorial that you are happy to follow, to learn how to make it :)

I have always loved how the products from SU! have many different ways to be used! This DSP comes in the same packet as the Christmas papers from my first item & yet, this can be used for a completely different theme!!  How different are they?

I've used a base of Merry Merlot, Tranquil Tide & Very Vanilla cardstock, the Dandelion Wishes & Love What You Do stamp sets & of course, Rhinestones!! I sponged the Vanilla, as it was too stark by itself, so it needed to be softened a little. I also stamped off the flower image, so that it wasnt so strong.

I used the same layout on the back so that I have somewhere to write a message of love & support.

Once you work out the way to make this card, it's surprising how easy it is to put together - but it punches the WOW factor when you give it someone special!!

I know I will be making more of these!!

To keep the excitement going of this Blog Hop, you will be going onto Denise's blog to see her creations... Just click on the big green arrow to make your way there...

If this doesnt work, for some weird internet reason, or you have lost your way, follow the links here...

1. Leonie Schroder
2. Lou Kitzelman
3. Delys Cram
4. Nicole Wilson
5. Shannon Kissane
6. Rebecca Scurr
7. Sharni Haines
8. Lauren Meiklejohn
9. Jenna Watkins
10. Cheryl Algie
11. Sharon Dalton
12. Siobhan Fitzsimmons
13. Cathy Pinchbeck
14. Peta Stephen
15. Monique Fielder
16. Me!! You are here!!
17. Denise Buetler
18. Katrina Duffell
19. Narelle Fasulo

20. Fi Cobbin

Enjoy them all, dont forget to leave a comment & thanks for stopping by... x

Happy 70th Uncle Allan!!

My aunty sat with me at my brother's 30th earlier in the year. She saw my tropical themed card that I'd made for Cameron, using the Bird Banter stamp set, you know the one with all the tropical birds?

Her eyes lit up and she asked if I would make Uncle Allan a similar card for his 70th in August. And yes, of course I would!!

This is the front of his card, using The Back Nine stamp set & the simple sentiment from Picture Perfect Birthday & some glimmer paper, of course!! I think the card front works, without all the other pages also, don't you?

I gave the mat of the card some texture with the Perfect Polka Dot embossing folder, I guess trying to emulate a gold ball, right?

I used a couple of different stamps sets, (thanks Susan for a lend of them), these included: The Back Nine, Sprinkle of Life, Amazing Birthday, (these are retired), Picture Perfect Birthday & Waterfront, (these are current).

As you can see, I used Waterfront upside down & the correct way up, to try to make it look like a golf course with bunkers & dips etc... This was a fun part of the card to be creative with! I then stamped the golf bag image onto the green & yellow with the black ink.

I stamp with Always Artichoke & Soft Sky that are retired & Mint Macaron, So Saffron, Daffodil Delights & Basic Black, all that are still current ink colours.

After stamping onto the Windsor Knot DSP, using Archival Black Ink, I cut out 70 of the wonderful golf bags!! Thank goodness the footy was on, that way I thought cutting them out was super exciting!!

I then lined up all the bags, so that I could try to have different colours next to each other & have a bit of spacing throughout the pages, so that it didn't look too cramped. I used a 2 way-glue stick to adhere them to the cardstock.

12 panels later & Im pretty happy with how it all came together!! 

 So now is the time to have made that card & send it off for Aunty Nola to give to Uncle Allan on his actual day. I can't wait to hear how he received it! It wasn't a challenge at all to make a card for him, my single face cards can take a lot longer than this one took to make, work that out, hey?? :)

Thanks for keeping up with this long post, I appreciate it, truly!! Jo.

Forgive me, it has been a looooong time between posts...

I am so excited at the moment!!

I have finally got a computer in my stamp room - this means that I can sit and work on my blog, (that has been sooo neglected!!), I can look up techniques & use them immediately & I can even watch something that I want to, while I stamp!!

And it's Mine, Mine, Mine!!

So hopefully, I will be able to be more organised & active on various platforms because I pulled the cupboards from the wall & found the internet port... YIPPEE

And while it looks all messy & disorganised, I havent been this happy to have a computer set up for a very long time!

Good times are ahead!!

Thanks for staying with me,J Jo.

ESAD 2018 Annual Catalogue Launch Blog Hop

Wahooooo!! Here we are at another Blog Hop!! This time for ESAD..

                                       

What a way to celebrate the newest and most exciting catalogue!! I immediately loved how bright and cheery it was, when I saw it at OnStage!! And now that the catalogue is live, you can purchase anything from it, by following this link.

Seeing Bronwyn's items makes me just want more items, is that the same for you?

I guess it's time to look at what Ive created, right?

Well in between deciding what to make and actually producing something, I had a little help...
I've deliberately placed this basket on my table because Tiger likes to sit & observe what I'm  doing & he doesn't always sit in the best place - hence the basket!!





















Except this time he wanted to play with my scraps of paper - clearly he is excited by the new products too!!

And this is what the scraps came from... Using one of the peices from the Stained Glass Die Set, I cut out the peices & attached them together for a fence. As soon as I saw this peice I knew it reminded me of a picket fence running along a property, just like I use to walk past in my Nanna's country town of Goorambat, near Benalla... Needless to say, my idea worked!

This is nothing like what the original card idea was, in my mind, but I am super happy with it, either way!

The fence is up on Dimensionals so that the piggies are flat against the card. I do just love their happiness in being together, dont you?

 Ive used 4 separate stamp sets for this card, (Sea of Textures, This Little Piggy, Enjoy Life & Animal Outing), 2 Die sets, (Bottles & Bubbles and Stained Glass) & 1 Punch, Cookie Cutter)

 The card stock is Pear Pizzazz, Early Expresso, Very Vanilla & our new In-Colour, Powder Pink.

 And wasn't it a challenge to cut the Dimensionals so that they raised up the love hearts - they are so tiny!!

Next was to use a stamp set that I won for attending OnStage in Sydney back in April. This stamp set, named In Every Season is certainly not one that I would usually even glance at, so the challenge was on to make good use of it...

 All of the images are small, so I wanted to showcase one of them & making my own DSP, (Designer Series Paper) seemed to be the perfect was to show it off!!

I used Versamark and stamped it numerous times, then applied Black Embossing Powder and heated the images. And this is the result :)

And this Painted Glass sentiment is just the perfect one for this card!! Adding a few Rhinestones throughout the card and then on the sentiment is all that was needed to finish it off!!

I have a close friends' son who has recently asked his girlfriend to marry him, so Im thinking this card will be for them...

Thanks for stopping by to see my creations. I'd love for you to leave me a comment about my cards and then continue with the Blog Hop... Be sure to visit them all, you will be truly amazed by everyone's creativity!!

Click on the image below to follow the links....

                                         

Alternatively, you can follow the links this way....

1. Kelly Kent

2. Leonie Schroder

3. Joanne Stubbings

4. Libby Dyson

5. Courtenay Heuston

6. Fi Cobbin

7. Carolina Evans

8. Peta Stephen

9. Sharon Dalton

10. Jackie Aitken

11. Rochelle Blok

12. Nicole Wilson

13. Emily Campbell

14. Denise Buetler

15. Katrina Duffell

16. Delys Cram

17. Kathryn Mangelsdorf

18. Megan Lenske

19. Mandy Depiazzi

20. Bronwyn Eastley

21. Jo Weedon            (You are here)

22. Siobhan Fitzsimmons

23. Melissa Gifford

24. Cathy Pinchbeck

25. Jessie Holton

26. Jenny Bowman

27. Rose Packer

Kelly's Stamping Friends - Birthday Blog Hop.

Welcome to Kelly's Blog Hop - a celebration of her birthday, friendship & creativity!!

You have just come from seeing the wonderful Rachael's creations, weren't they great!! Im always in awe of people's interpretaion of the theme for a Blog Hop & this one doesnt disappoint!!

So onto my projects!! I have always loved creating something different to what I ususally see products being used for... I gain a lot of inspiration from those who make cards & even produce scrap pages to document their life, but I seem to see less of 3D or Off The Page items...

And so this brings me to my project... Ive had this 'Notice-Board/ Stationary Holder' for well over a few years and simply havent wanted to decorate it. Until the Wood Textures Designer Series Paper came along!! My youngest teen son started the job & I helped him to finish it...we make a great pair, dont we!!

 By keeping the sheets in similar tones, as they ran along the length of the project, it allowed the joins of the paper to not be so obvious. And also, when it is full of the odd peice of Lego, pens, school notes & bills, they wont be so easy to see either, hey?

 And the white paint for the edges, matches with the 'white wash' of the internal dividers also..win, win!!

So before the family realise that they can write on the "Over-head Projector' sheet that is on the 'window' part of the board, I will enjoy the clean lines & organised appearance of my, our, little weekend project... *sigh*

When I finished the Notice Board, I realised that I had another item gathering dust - it needed to be used!!

As you may know, I am friend's with many Stampin' UP! demonstrators & am often encouraged & inspired by them. This time is no different - I recently saw an "Off The Page' project using SU! products, so I hunted around & decided that I would use this frame to show off the gorgeous Statement of The Heart from Stampin' Up! 

Our Statement of The Heart is the core belief that we all hold & it encompases everything that all demos hold true. It is now in a stamp that can be shared & loved by everyone who passes by in my stamp room!!

"To love what we do and

Share what we love

As we help others enjoy creativity and

Worthwhile accomplishments.

In this we make a difference"

Firstly, I painted the wood with white paint, as I often do &I sat very impatiently, waiting for it to dry...

 I then paired the now retired Urban Garden Designer Series Paper, (DSP), with Not Quite Navy ink & Whisper White cardstock. These flowers were apart of a 12 x 12 sheet of DSP & they were screaming to be cut out & slightly re-arranged.

This flower was made by fussy cutting out the image about 6 times, from a sheet of DSP, popped up on Dimensionals & burnished to give the petals shape.

And of course, there needed to be some bling, my Up-line had taught me well!! With just a couple of peals carefully placed, it balances the piece nicely, I believe :)

Thanks for stopping by and seeing my creations for Kelly. I hope she has an amazing year ahead travelling around our incredible earth again - she certainly inspires me to keep doing what we love doing - using Stampin' Up! products, of course!!

And once again: Happy birthday Kelly!!

If you have lost your way, follow these names to find your way again :)

1.   Kelly Kent

2. Angela Meiritz-Reid

3. Sue Vine

4. Sharon Dalton

5. Rebecca Scurr

6. Julia Quinn

7. Danielle Bennenk

8. Cathy Pinchebeck

9. Richelle Fletcher

10.Sara Levin

11. Sandra Roberts

12. Catherin Creer

13. Cheryl Taylor

14. Rochelle Blok

15. Ine van den Eijnden

16. Rachael Lewsley

17. Jo Weedon You are here....

18. Courtney Heuston

19. Mandy Depiazzi

20. Marian Fleming

2018 Retirement List Blog Hop

Here we go with another amazing Blog Hop!! You have possibly come from Nicole's incredible page & designs. How gorgeous is her work? Thanks for playing along also, Nicole :)

When names were requested for this Blog Hop, I jumped at the chance!! I love to see people's ideas & interpretation of the theme of each hop... This theme, of course, is to use items from the Retiring List...

I decided to pull out all the retiring colours, the stamp sets, embossing folders & punches to see what sparked my interest. This is what I came up with...

 A close friend & co-worker had a baby a year ago, so Yusuf is now turning 1!! Our excitement for him almost matches how super cute he is!! So of course, he needs a special 1st birthday card...

Ive used the Myths & Magic Special DSP, Large Numbers Die & already retired Elegant Label Punch, on a base of Dapper Denim & Whisper White cardstock.

And can you see that Ive sponged the Silver Glimmer Paper for the #1? How super cool, errr, magical is that!!

It's another first for me that I use 2 designs of the DSP on one card, the wizards AND the brave knight fighting his dragon!! The Number of Years stamp set is wonderful that it includes the 'ST' so that our cards can be grammatically correct, isn't it?

 I always love to do projects that aren't only a card, so I went hunting in my stash of 'things that I've bought & will get back to one day', dont you have a pile like that too?

I found this card box & also remembered that my work have been asking for a supply of cards of mine. This is so that the staff members can flick through when they need a cards & it is immediately there for them... How perfect will this box be?

Whenever I choose an item like this, I always paint the edges, I just dont like the wooden finish. And I almost always paint them white... Then the many layers of Tear 'n Tape ensures the DSP will last on the project for a long time & shoul withstand a little bit of wear & tear, better than only using the tape around the edges, for example.


















Using the tape makes this projet so quick to complete, as you can use a craft knife to cut around the edges precisely for a smart finish & it is almost done.
(Ps, dont look at how I still need to paint over the exposed wooden edges, ok....)

 Now with the dividers also completed, the various cards can go in & lots of people will be happy to purchase & send or give a card to a loved one.

And now for my final item to show you...

Im a bit sad that the Magical Day stamp set is retiring, so Im not quite sure that I will be willing to part with it...& I've also used the Birthday Wit Set AND Sunshine & Rainbows on the one card!!!!

This card has a base of Whisper White with a mat of Sweet Sugarplum.

My rainbow is Elegant Eggplant, Dapper Denim, Marina Mist, Wild Wasabi, Peekaboo Peach, Tangerine Tango & Rose Red - my (retiring) interpretation of the V.I.B.G.Y.O.R. rainbow acronym :)

Ive made this card for another close friend & co-worker who is celebrating her birthday with 'our' baby that is turning 1, yes, on the same day!!

Melissa is such an incredibly driven woman, always is aware of her food intake, cooks incredible food, achieves greatness in her fitness & just loves unicorns - what a balance, hey?
 You never can tell how a card will come together, do you? 3 sets on the one card - Im still smiling about that one...

Thanks for dropping to see what Ive prepared for you all. Id love to hear what you thought of my projects...

So get up, put the kettle on, on your way to the loo, come back with a fresh cuppa & be prepared for Libby's stunning work.

Her creations will mirror the gorgeous woman she is, bright, colourful with a touch of sparkle!!





And if you get lost in all this craftiness, here is the list of everyone participating:

Blog Hop Participant List

Blog Hop Participant List

1. Lou Kitzelman

2. Kelly Kent

3. Bronwyn Eastley

4. Jackie Aitken

5. Jo Stubbings

6. Peta Stephen

7. Sharon Dalton

8. Lauren Meiklejohn

9. Courtenay Heuston

10. Nicole Wilson

11. Jo Weeden  You are here, Jo Weedon :)

12. Libby Dyson

13. Cheryl Algie

14. Megan Lenske

15. Beryl Crisp

16. Fi Cobbin

17. Rose Packer

18. Cathy Pinchbeck

19. Carolina Evans

20. Renee Lynch  

21. Sandra Mastello

22. Katrina Duffell

23. Rachael Lewsley

24. Leonie Schroder

25. Emily Campbell

26. Monique Fielder

27. Michelle Strazds

28. Jessie Holton

Thanks again x

Remembering OnStage 2018

Wow!! Looking back at these photos already have me smiling & wanting another occasion to get us altoghter!!

From the initial all getting to airport & travelling as a group, to wandering the supermarkets & streets of Sydney, while wearing my ridiculous hat!! (Of course, it is made of Stampin' Up ! items, so it HAD to be worn proudly!!)

Im so lucky to have Mel & Raelz as the adults in our relationships, they tolerate my silliness so well!!

 When we finally arrived at OnStage 2018, I discovered that I wasnt the only one dressed for the occasion!! Yes, there are some other mad women out there, too!!
Linda's mop of rainbow hair made me smile, so we just had to have a photo together!!

 And when I crossed paths with Sara, Stampin' Up!'s CEO, I jumped at the chance to have my photo taken with her - Id love to know what she thinks of us crazy Aussies!!
She is as gratious as she is beautiful & allowed this photo - I am so grateful for all that she gives to SU!

One of the wonderful & unexpected things that I quickly learned about the family that is SU!, is the friendships that blossom through a common interest, such as stamping. Over my (almost) 9 years, I have gained so many beautiful friendships & people that I admire & aspire to be. Monique is one of these women, who I chat to while on-line, but rarely get to hug, squeal & giggle with...

At OnStage, it was a true highlight to squeeze her, maybe even tear up a little & then celebrate with as I watched her present on THE ACTUAL stage, as she was one of the 'chosen' ones to do so!!

 Did you know how important it is to keep your sugars up while droopling over that latest catalogue launch? Im not lying.... How cute is this cupcake?

 Did I mention that this wonderful event took place in Sydney? Here's proof!! The weather was stunning, wasnt it?

 Many of the gifts we received was a Light Box, complete with the SU! logo & a heart to boot!! Of course, I couldnt just write anything... I had to write how I felt, right at that time!!

 Going for a walk the next morning saw Susan & I under the big bridge... It truly is incredible, especially when you think of how long ago it was built, not many safety regulations etc... Oh my gosh, how it would have changed the skyline & growth of the 'town' that was Sydney, back then...

Sitting in front of The Opera House, Susan & I took this photo - the sun was glorious, the weekend was spectacular & the friendships are everlasting!!

Come back next time to see some of the swaps that I received - they are beautiful!!