Just clarifying...

...while I have a quiet chuckle to myself! It seems that many of you haven't heard of "Hump Day". I've had lots of emails asking me to explain...and no, it's nothing rude! ROFL

Wednesday is Hump Day. It's the hurdle in the middle of the week that you have to get over before you can see that the end is in sight.

I'm happy to report that I made it over my hurdles and I'm out the other side now. I'm having a lovely day today. The house is blissfully quiet - the kids are at Mum's, Dave is at work and I am playing! I've pulled out some new stamps and made some cards for some special people that have helped me through my busy time. They are now addressed in pretty stamped envelopes and will be on their way to brighten their day soon. That felt really good. It felt like absolutely the right thing to do to christen those stamps :o)

Hump Day

You can probably tell by my lack of blog posts that things haven't eased up yet around here. I'm in the midst of my last busy week, and looking forward to a well-earned rest next week! Today is hump day, and it's feeling like a BIG hump this week! LOL
I thought I'd pop in and show you the Stamp-a-Stacks that I've been running this month. Some nice bright Spring-y ones. I've used the Sweetheart set, that's designed to go with the new Heart-shaped Sweet Treat cups, but is also a delightful set to use without them too! I've paired it with the For You Flower (have I convinced you that you *need* that one yet, along with the matching punch?)
Hope you're having a lovely week!

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
stamps: Sweet Heart, For You Flower, Tiny Tags
ink: Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise, Certainly Celery, So Saffron
card: Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Whisper white
other: Fancy Flower Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Small Heart Punch, Full Heart Punch, Jewellery Tag Punch, Polka Dot embossing Folder, Big Shot, Certainly Celery Grosgrain Ribbon, Silver Bards

Being Busy

I keep thinking things are going to start to slow down a bit, but they just aren't. I do love being busy (especially because I am busy doing stuff that I love) but I must confess that I'm looking forward to having a wee break towards the end of this month. People keep saying to me "You look tired" which I know is code for "You look terrible". LOL
One of the things that has been keeping me busy is that I'm running lots of Shares from the New Catalogue for papers, ribbons and embellishments. If you subscribe to my newsletter, you would have heard all about them. If not, and you would like to be involved, you can subscribe over there -->
After you've subscribed, send me an email and I can mail out the relevant newsletter.

I haven't had many opportunities to play with my new goodies yet, but one that I'm loving already is Shimmer Paint. It's awesome stuff, and highly addictive! You can give everything you stamp a beautiful shimmery lustre.
We learnt a few different ways to use Shimmer Paint (which is actually more like an ink than a paint) in this month's Technique Class. It's hard to tell from the pic, but the flower and stem on this card are lovely and shimmery:

One thing I love about the Shimmer Paint is that it's only $11.50 (gotta love that!) and you can mix it with your re-inkers (2 drops of ink to 3 drops of Shimmer Paint) to make any colour you like. Then, simply apply to your stamp with a dauber and get ready to go oooh and aahh.

TIP: you only need a very light coat of the paint on your stamp, so rather than dipping your dauber straight into your paint mixture and soaking it all up at once, just take a little from the side and dab it on an empty spot of your palette to blend it on the dauber, before applying to your stamp.

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
stamps: Printed Petals, Perfect Punches
ink: Elegant Eggplant, Versamark
card: Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum, Old Olive, Whisper White
other: Elegant Eggplant ink refill, Old olive Ink Refill, Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint, Wide Oval, Big Shot, Lots of Tags Die, Striped Old Olive Ribbon, Scallop Trim Punch, 1" Circle Punch, 1/2" Circle Punch, sponge dauber

Fancy Flower

As promised, here is the second make-and-take from my Launch Party. Another quick and simple one.
I love the Dynamic Duo of the For You Flower individual stamp and the Fancy Flower Punch. They make short work of focal image for a card, or a quick tag for a gift. They went straight onto my "Must Have" List (which is quite a long list, let me tell you!)
For something a bit different, I have layered Baja Breeze straight onto Baja Breeze. Because one of the layers in textured (with the GORGEOUS Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder), it works!
And did you spot the Scallop Trim Punch on there? I couldn't resist using it again, this time as a corner accent.
You could whip up a batch of these, in various colourways really quickly.

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
stamps: For You Flower
ink: Baja Breeze
card: Baja Breeze, Whisper White
other: Fancy Flower Punch, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Scallop Trim Punch, Dimensionals

Crazy week!

You can probably tell I've had a crazy week...my presence on here has been virtually non-existent. Hopefully you've been too busy perusing the new catalogue over and over again to notice! I've been flat-chat getting ready for my Launch Party, which was on Saturday. It was a great day. I think everyone had loads of fun, and hopefully went home feeling inspired.
This is one of the make-and-takes that everyone got to make:

I know I'm going to love having a dedicated Neutrals colour family with 10 lovely shades in it to play with. One of my favourite pages of the catalogue is page 65. A neutral colour palette always seems so sophisticated and restful at the same time.
On this card I have only used Sahara Sand and Basic Black. The gorgeous Bella Toile background stamp (which I was lucky enough to earn as a Convention Award set) doesn't need much dressing up. I've also used the lovely Scallop Trim border punch and the oh-so-versatile Perfect Punches set (I think this set made it on to everyone's wishlists on Saturday). I've also used a corrugated strip of cardstock, which I made using the Crimper. It's a nifty trick to have up your sleeve if you don't have any co-ordinating ribbon.

I'll be back tomorrow to show you the other make-and-take!

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
stamps: Bella Toile, Perfect Punches
ink: Basic Black
card: Sahara Sand, Basic Black
other: Wide Oval Punch, Crimper, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Dimensionals

September Promotion!

Stampin' Up! have an amazing Promotion on offer during September...if I wasn't already a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, I'd be taking this one up for sure!
With the launch of the new catalogue, the Starter Kit has been re-vamped - it's fresher, more fun and cheaper - and to sweeten the deal even further, during September you can also add $84.90 worth of free In Color goodies to it!
Sign up in September... it will be the best $289 you've ever spent (and you get 30% off your first order from the new catalogue!)
Email me if you have any questions!

It's HERE!

The day we've all been waiting for...the New Catalogue! Go HERE to see all the new goodies! The catalogue is available to read online, or save to your computer and read as a pdf file.

Of course the best way to see it is in the flesh, so if you would like your own copy, you can pick one up from me for $10 or have it mailed to you for $15 (anywhere in Australia). Every copy of the catalogue ordered in September comes with a gift voucher to use with your first order in September! Happy reading!

P.S. I'll be running Shares for DSP, ribbon and embellishments. Stay tuned!