A Special Gift

This week was a pretty tough week for me, on Monday I managed to pull a muscle in my back and by Tuesday I could barely get out of bed because of the pain and spasm.  I also found out on Tuesday morning that I wasn't successful at a job I had applied for, so all in all a rotten sort of morning.  I was on Facebook having a chat to a dear friend who did her best to cheer me up which did really help.  After a while she had to go do some shopping, and as often happens she asked if I wanted anything while she was out, I jokingly replied "Tim Tams :)"

The very next day an express post parcel arrived in the post and when I opened it there was this cute little card and two little packaged up items. The words in this card put a smile on my face and tears in my eyes "Cheer up Charlie!  You are Wonderful!"  Just the words I needed to hear!

This is one of the little packages that I opened up before photographing - inside the wrapper is a packet of ... you guessed it Tim Tams!!! It seems that the lovely Shirley had in fact picked me up some while she was at the shops and had decorated and packaged them up just for me!

This is the second packet also decorated but still un-opened ... but not for long lol.  Even more special is the suite of papers and stamps that Shirley used is called "Sent With Love"!

It is at times like these that I don't love living in such a big country, but even with such physical distance between us, I felt such love and support!  So a bit thank you to Shirley for taking the time to show her care of me so sweetly (no pun intended).  You can check out some of Shirley's other amazing work at Stamping Elephants.

Happy Stamping

Exciting Announcements

Two exciting announcements today ...

 Firstly My Digital Studio is now available in Australia/New Zealand!  MDS is a program used to create digital cards and scrapbooks, but can also be used to create some elements before printing out and adding embellishments or layers.  There are some great training videos available which I will be accessing as this is a totally new way of creating for me!

There is a free 30 day trial for you to give it a go and is available at the on-line store, which leads nicely into my next announcement .....  On-line ordering is here!!!!

What does this mean for you?  Well if you live anywhere in Australia you can click on the icon on the top of my left widget bar and it will take you to my on-line store.  You can choose any of the current Stampin' Up! products to put in your order.  If your order qualifies for hostess benefits you also get to choose these as part of that process!

When you get to the on-line ordering page you can look up products by category off the list on the left hand side.  You can also look up products that are associated with a particular suite - making it super easy for you to choose products that will coordinate perfectly with each other!  How easy is that!

I am still really happy for you to contact me directly to place an order the way we have always done, but if you live a little further away on-line ordering is great as the items will be shipped directly to you.  

Happy Stamping

Sale-A-Bration One Sheet Wonder

I have looked for a long time at One Sheet Wonders (OSW) and found one that I quite liked the look of but unfortunately it was in imperial measurements which is usually fine, but didn't look quite right on our A5 cards so I did a bit of a re-work using similar shapes.  The original OWS can be found at Joyfully Made Designs.

Firstly here is the full set of cards.  I used a single piece of DSP measuring 19cm x 18.5cm. I chose this sheet because one side had lots of lovely colours while the other was Island Indigo and Whisper White allowing me to have two different colour pallets.

Card 1: I made this set of cards while I was away at a craft retreat and didn't have a flourish stamp with me, so I borrowed the one from last year's Sale-A-Bration set Fresh Vintange, covering the main flower with the panel and the button from SAB this year!  The sentiment is from Petite Pairs.

Card 2: For this card I used the Bloomin' Marvellous for the flowers, leaves and sentiment.  I just love these colours, so bright and cheerful.

Card 3: I flipped the DSP over to use the Island Indigo and to mute it down a little I brayered it with Pool Party.  I some fun with this one, sponging the flowers and the doily and adding lots of pearls!  The cute little bow I learned off the very lovely Andrea from EnchantINK.  After following Andrea's blog for years and being inspired by her creations it was wonderful to be able to meet her in person!  Thanks Andrea.

Card 4: I fiddled and faddled with this card for some time before I was happy with it, but am happy with the result.  the sentiment is from the SAB set Vintage Verses. It was the addition of the three little butterflies that had me happy with the balance of the card.

Card 5:  I wanted to do something a little different with this card so used my two butterfly punches and paper piercing pack then slid the strip of DSP behind so that pattern shows.  Sentiment from Perfectly Penned and the ribbon from the Sycamore Street Ribbon & Buttons Pack.

Card 6:  Keeping fairly simple on this one I added a glimmer brad and some brushed gold card stock behind the DSP panels and sentiment.  Sentiment from Teeny Tiny Sentiments.

Card 7: I love this card, I think it is my favourite of the set.  I fairly closely followed the sample on the original page of the OSW.  I love that the a la carte sentiment is so flourishy and that it ties in so well with the flourish from Everything Eleanor. 

Card 8: This is another one I struggled with just a little.  I had the basic layout in my head but it wasn't quite right.  It took a coming back after a lunch break to realise the butterflies were needed to add balance. The embossing folder used is also available for free during Sale-A-Bration - Vine Street.

Card 9: I used the Postage Stamp Punch to layer the small pieces of DSP and stamped the Whisper White with images from Bloomin' Marvellous and Petite Pairs. I love the ribbon available for free as part of SAB as well, such a lustre and so easy to make bows with.

Finally here is the layout for the One Sheet Wonder in metric.  All 9 cards made from just one piece of DSP!  If you are thinking of doing one of these, my suggestion would be to choose a DSP with a reasonably small pattern or it will get lost on the smaller pieces.  One with lots of colour also gives you lots of options for colours in your card.

Happy Stamping