ESAD stands for “Extra Special Australasian Demonstrators” and it is an on-line group just for Australian and New Zealand Stampin Up demonstrators. We so love what we do and not only do we love to share it with our customers, friends, and wonderful blog visitors, but we share our love for what we do with each other as demonstrators. We run swaps, challenges, tutorials, product know-how, and cyberstamps, and we are always there to help and support each other when it is needed.  So if you are a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator located in Australia or New Zealand, then please fee free to click here to join our wonderful group.

I really like this new Hostess set called ‘Faith in Nature’. It’s a lovely set and can be used for feminine or masculine cards, and a variety of occasions. Here are 3 cards I created with it …….

For this one I inked up my pear stamp on the Versamark inkpad, then the Chocolate Chip inkpad before stamping. Then I sprinkled it with clear embossing powder and used my heat gun to emboss it. This allowed me to watercolour it without smudging the image.

I think this could make a nice sympathy or get well card.

I couldn’t resist using the lovely new In Color ‘Wisteria Wonder’ to create this card. It’s a lovely colour and teams well with Concord Crush. I’ve also sponged some Champagne shimmer mist in the centre of the flower to give it a little bit of sparkle. We made a similar card to this at my launch last week and will be also making a similar one at the workshop I’m at this afternoon while everyone is hopping around!

I hope you like these cards. If you’d like to get your hands on the Faith in Nature stamp set, then all you need to do is contact your local demonstrator (if you don’t have one I’m sure you can find one while you check out the Blog Hop! ) and book a workshop to earn it for free!

We are offering Blog Candy on this Blog Hop and there will be 2 winners – one from Australia and one from New Zealand. Rules for the Blog Candy are

1. You must visit and comment on every blog in the blog hop

2. Once you have completed the Blog hop they must email Sharlene (torresfamily8@hotmail.com) and advise your Name, email & location. If you are a winner then you will be contacted for your mailing details.

3. Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators are not eligible to win Blog Candy

Okay, that’s all from me today! Have fun hopping along to see what fabulous creations Christie has come up with and thanks in advance for any comments you leave me take care, Kari

PS Here’s a list of all the blogs in the Hop in case you get lost!

1. Keryn Campbell   http://www.kerynscards.blogspot.com

2. Michelle Halling   http://www.michellehcreations.blogspot.com

3. Richelle Fletcher   http://www.stampingwithrichelle.blogspot.com

4. Sharlene Meyer   http://www.magpiecreates.com

5. Carole Stedman   http://www.carolestamping.com

6. Monique Fielder   http://www.stamping-with-moni-q.blogspot.com

7. Juliette Chapman   http://www.juleskraftikrafts.blogspot.com

8. Debbie Lamb   http://debstampinstyle.blogspot.com

9. Leonie Schroder   http://www.stamp-a-latte.com

10. Tanya Bell   http://www.stampingt.com.au

11. Kelly Nelson   http://www.kellysstampinspot.wordpress.com

12. Kari Hughes    http://www.karigail.wordpress.com

13. Christie Kunkel    http://www.christiescreativecorner.blogspot.com

14. Ann Gerlach   http://www.discover-ink.blogspot.com/

15. Sharlene torres   http://www.stampwithsharlene.com

 16. Mel Sharp   http://www.astampaddiction.blogspot.com

 17. Dani Fender   http://wwwdanifender.blogspot.com

 18. Nicole Derendorf   http://www.stampingdownunder.wordpress.com

 19. Elizabeth Dyson   http://www.libbystampz.blogspot.com/

 20. Andrea Buckland   http://www.creatingcardswithandrea.blogspot.com

 21. Michelle Grech   http://www.stampmeshell.wordpress.com

22. Narelle Hodges   http://www.stampwithnarelle.blogspot.com

 23. Sally Williams http://www.sallystampingdelights.blogspot.com

If you’d like to check out the catalogue online then you can click here or if you’d like your very own copy, then email me and I can arrange that for you!

I’m joining in another Blog Hop tomorrow, so please come and visit again after 12noon AEST and join in the hop to see some fabulous ideas using the gorgeous new products!

K

I used the Circle Circus stamp set with it and added some of the lovely poly ribbon in a matching colour. The technique I used on this card is called inlaid embossing. I ran the stamped piece of cardstock through the Big Shot in the Square Lattice Embossing Folder to create the texture before adhering it to the mat layer. For some extra interest I stamped, punched and then mounted one circle using a Stampin’ dimensional and added a rhinestone for some bling too

Here is the same card using Poppy Parade for the mat layer and ribbon …

Hope you like them! Thanks for visiting! Kari

The other gorgeous person to give me an award was Clare McIllhatton :) Clare makes me smile everytime I read her blog and has so many inspiring ideas (she is a whiz with punches!) and you can check her blog out here. Clare also decided to inspire some of the INKlings team that weren’t able to make it to Convention this year and one of her challenge was to make an orange bag in honour of the orange convention bag! Here is my orange bag  (and orange card) ….

Now, seeing as Clare’s favourite colour is orange, guess where I sent the bag and card?! Glad you liked it Clare xx

You can see that I embossed the Upsy Daisy flowers on the Sunny Garden DSP with White Embossing Powder. Love the way this looks and will have to use more DSP like this I think

So, to honour the awards , I am now supposed to tell you a few things about myself and then link to some other blogs I am inspired by, here we go …..

* I love my electric blanket and was devastated when I had to go without it for a month!

* I have 2 boxes full of fabric and another one full of sewing kits in my study wardrobe! …. and don’t get me started on the yarn collection in there!

* I am a hoarder (see above!)

* 3 favourite things: wine, coffee, chocolate ….. not always in that order

* I love organisational things but just never seem to actually BE organised!

* I am excited like a little kid to see the new bulbs flowering in the garden at the moment!

* I love sending and receiving postcards – so exciting to get snail mail these days!

Well, there’s some facts about me, and here are some lovely blogs I have found to pass the awards on to:

Beth Stewart     http://elisabethstewart.typepad.com/bethinking/

Michelle Frost-Stevenson    http://stampinground.wordpress.com/

Michelle Le Breton    http://www.michellescraftclasses.blogspot.com/

Dani Fender     http://danifender.blogspot.com/

Sharlene Meyer    http://www.magpiecreates.com/

Christie Kunkel    http://www.christiescreativecorner.blogspot.com/

Meg Loven     http://lovenstamps.com/blog/

Homemade by Jill     http://homemadebyjill.blogspot.com/

So thank you girls for thinking of me and I hope these other lovely blogs give you more inspiration! K

You may have found me from Sharlene’s Blog or just come visiting me today (aww, thanks!) either way, have a look through the hop for some inspiration and we all love to read comments, so feel free to leave a comment to let us know what you think of our projects!

What is ESAD?
ESAD stands for “Extra Special Australasian Demonstrators” and it is an on-line group just for Australian and New Zealand Stampin Up demonstrators. We so love what we do and not only do we love to share it with our customers, friends, and wonderful blog visitors, but we share our love for what we do with each other as demonstrators.  We run swaps, challenges, tutorials, product know-how, and cyberstamps, and we are always there to help and support each other when it is needed. So if you are a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator located in Australia or New Zealand, then please fee free to click here to join our wonderful group

On to my creations …..

I have to say, ‘Scribble This’ is a favourite stamp of mine. I just love the large pointy flower and have used it on cards from birthdays to anniversaries and you can use so many colour schemes with it. My favourite way to use it is to stamp it in Stazon on Whisper White and then use my markers (the brush tip end) to add colour. Very quick and easy - best bit is the colouring doesn’t have to be perfect because of the sketched lines of the flowers. 

And here is a similarly done one that I CASEd from Jayne Mercer! All you need to do is mask off around where you want to stamp (love post-it notes!), stamp, colour then pull the post-its off! This would look great for an invitation too.

Another way I have used it is by stamping with Black stazon on Vellum and then layering it on top of DSP on the cardfront. Here you can see I have used a layer of the Lap of Luxury DSP and I just happened to have the piece with the word ‘Love’ so I think this will make a nice engagement or anniversary card. I added some brads and a ribbon slide from the HodgePodge Styled Silver Set (also retiring) and a piece of Black Grosgrain to finish it off.

Another set that I love for very quick and effective cards is ‘Christ is Born’. I LOVE this flower and I think I cut out over 100 a couple of years ago but I am sorry to see this go. You can make simple 1-layer cards or dress them up and cut out the flowers too. The first one I’ve kept to using simple colours, Poppy Parade and some Sunny Garden DSP. I embossed the sentiment on the DSP using White embossing powder and once I cut the flower out I used my bone folder to curl the petals to add more dimension. You could also add ribbon, or glitter, but I like the simple red and white look. 

This next colour combination is my favourite for this set, Naturals Ivory cardstock and Riding Hood Red and Chocolate Chip Inks – sometimes I throw in a little Old Olive (or Kiwi Kiss when it was in!) too. Just a nice simple background of the flowers and the sentiment stamped straight over the top. If I have time, I like to add drops of Crystal Effects onto the centres of the flowers to give the card some texture. Not sure how easy it is to see this on your screens, but I also stamped the flowers while I had the cardfront on a thick paper pad. As I pressed the stamp down I gave the stamp a slight rock all around (not too far) and this gives you the impression that the ink is darker at the edges of the petals, especially the tips. 

I hope you’ve enjoyed my projects today. Next stop on the Blog Hop is Mel Sharp. Thanks for visiting! Kari

PS There’ll be another Blog Hop in a few weeks to showcase some new products too!

Here is the sketch (from www.makeeshabyl.com.au):

And here is my card:

The Sew Suite stamp set and matching Sweet Stitches DSP is only available until the end of July as the Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue will come to an end. It’s a cute set and just perfect for a card I wanted to send with a parcel as part of a sewing swap I am involved in at the moment! We are each sending another person in the swap 4 items (can be fabric, ribbon, lace, button, zips, whatever you like) and then they have to create something with them, kind of like Ready Steady Cook, but instead it’s Ready Steady Sew!

Anyway, back to the card …. I finally used some pompom trim on a card! LOL! It is really cute and added a nice texture to the front. You can see that I took a bit of license with the sketch, but that’s the fun of doing a sketch challenge, you can use the basic sketch for inspiration and adapt it for your project!

Hope you enjoyed! Kari

Welcome to The INKlings’ Team’s Christmas in July blog hop. You may have arrived here from Christie’s inspiring blog or just be visiting my blog, whichever way once you’ve checked out my creations you can continue the hop through the link at the end of this post to the next team member.
 
How quick is this year going! Have you started to think about your Christmas cards and projects yet? The INKlings team has and we thought that this month was the perfect time to host a Christmas in July blog hop. You’ll find lots of great ideas provided by 15 team members’ fantastic blogs.
 
Want to win some Blog Candy? Simply leave a comment on each blog and then email clare@crafty-cow.com with ‘INKlings Blog Candy’ in the subject field and let her know you’ve done so and you’ll be in the running for a fantastic prize of 17 handmade items plus other goodies, you have until 1st August to enter. 
 Sorry Blog Candy prize not available to SU! demonstrators but you’re more than welcome to leave us a comment! 
 
I thought I’d use some sets for my Christmas cards that I’ve had for a while, but not used for Christmas cards until now. I’ve used ‘All in the Family’, ‘Loads of Love’ and ‘Family Favourites’ . I also had in my mind that I wanted to use circles … why? I really don’t know, but it’s what I had pictured so I went with it and came up with 3  cards ….. 

Card #1:

For the background on  this first one, I have used a strip cut with the Tasteful Trim Big shot die down the left hand side and on the right hand side of the  I stamped my inkpad straight onto the cardstock.  I used a post-it note to mask the truck while I stamped the tree as shown below and I now have the ‘Loads of Love Accessories’ set on my wishlist too as then I could put a little person in my truck! (I wasn’t game to try to draw one in freehand!)

Card #2:

For this one I used the children stamps from the ‘All in the Family’ set. with those ones, the legs, body and arms are together so all you have to do is add a head and you are done! Of course I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to help me line up all the little stamps and I also drew a faint pencil line before stamping to help me keep the images level (see below). The presents are actually stamped and cut out then mounted using dimensionals. I think this could be a cute family Christmas card to send out - of course, my Audrey doesn’t have this much hair yet …. maybe by December she will?!

Card #3:

And lastly, this is my Aussie Santa card! Shorts and a tank top – although I probably should have coloured the singlet blue, not red! LOL! To get the circles on the background, I stamped the cricket ball image from the ‘Family Favourites’ stamp set using Versamark and then clear embossed it, it adds a bit of texture as well as breaking up the blank space. I also did some masking again when I stamped the presents under the tree, see the images below, the yellow is a piece of post-it note that I stamped and cut out and I added a cut out present at the front too.

Well that’s all from me, hope these cards have inspired you a little? I have to admit , one of the reasons I don’t pull out these sets very often is because I think of them as fiddly little ones, but I actually stamped these cards quite quickly in one evening and then sat and coloured the images the next night, so I think they could be quite easy to mass produce. I watercoloured them all with an aquapainter and picked up colour from a palette that I scribbled a Stampin’ Write marker on. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask

Next stop on the INKlings’ Team Blog Hop is the fabulously talented Joanna Wassens. Have fun and don’t forget to leave a comment on each blog to win some great Blog Candy. Thanks for hopping by! Kari
 
If for any reason you find a missing link on the blog hop head back here to find links to all the members taking part.

1. Clare http://www.crafty-cow.com        
2. Janice http://www.janicespencer.blogspot.com        
3. Christie http://www.christiescreativecorner.blogspot.com
4. Kari http://www.karigail.wordpress.com        
5. Joanna http://www.joannawassens.com
6. Michelle http://stampinground.wordpress.com
7. Alana http://www.alanagalagher.blogspot.com    
8. Carol http://www.inkantations-and-inkarnations.blogspot.com  
9. Cath http://cathdeanpapercraft.blogspot.com    
10. Amy http://amyandersonsblog.blogspot.com
11. Vanessa http://stampness.blogspot.com    
12. Michelle D http://stampinkpaper.blogspot.com
13. Ryn http://rynscraps.blogspot.com
14. Fiona B http://fionajanestamping.blogspot.com
15. Liz Halbisch http://lizhalbisch.blogspot.com

I also used the Pendant Park stamp set for the ‘tree’ behind the baubles – I clear embossed the tree images and then sponged Always Artichoke over the top to create an emboss resist effect.

But wait, there’s more! Yes, tomorrow you will find MORE Christmas ideas on my blog! (no I haven’t gone crazy … well, maybe a little! ) But it’s for a BLOG HOP! The INKlings are having a Christmas in July Blog Hop again and so if you check back here tomorrow afternoon you will see my creations and then be able to hop around to another 14 or so blogs and get all inspired for Christmas!

See you tomorrow, lovelies! Kari

I used the large En Francais background stamp in Basic Gray first and although I inked up the whole stamp, when I lay the Whisper White cardstock on the stamp (I tend to use the En Francais stamp facing up instead of stamping it onto the cardstock) I just pressed with my fingers in some areas instead of smoothly it and pressing flat all over like I would if I wanted all of the text to be stamped. I then stamped the large Vintage Vogue Flower in Cherry Cobbler, using 2nd, 3rd and 4th impressions so the colour was a bit lighter.

To get the frame around the label, I punched two Modern Label shapes from Basic gray and adhered them together so that they overlapped, then adhered the stamped and punched label in the centre of the two. A bit of the White organza ribbon (which is divine!) and I was done! Hope the girls who received the card liked it!

That’s all for tonight! Cheers, Kari

I stamped the bird on the Whisper white first, then twice on the Nursery Suite Specialty DSP (once on each side of the piece) and then cut out the bird from the striped side then cut the flower and the breast of the bird from the So Saffron patterned side. Piecing the pieces together was made easy with my trusty 2 way glue pen …. here is the little birdie …..

And here is the card…….

Hope you like it, I’ll share some more cards from tonight once I’ve made them! K

And here are the two cards I made with the alternate set ….

You can see the layering a little better here …..

I really like how they turned out, pretty and pastel, and with the added textured of the embossed mat. They are perfect for any occasion too – birthday, get well, thank you, sympathy, etc. And the set includes a few lovely sentiments for those times when you aren’t sure what words to say to comfort someone at a difficult time.

Hope you like them too, have a great weekend! K

Aren’t the colours lovely? Just what we need to brighten up this dreary winter and here is a card I made with my freebies!

Thanks for visiting! I’ll be back soon! Kari

It’s been lovely to see so many familiar faces there – customers and demonstrators – and I have really enjoyed the first two days, still one to go! Thought I’d share a pic of my stall for those of you that can’t come ….

I have to say a huge thank you to Carol Dunstan for lending me her Stampin’ Up! Banner – mwah! Much appreciated! And a big thank you to all of the demonstrators out there who have participated in swaps with me …. if you look carefully you may see one of your cards or scrap pages on display!

And, not sure if you can see them clearly at the front on the left, but here’s a couple of pics of some little things that have proved quite popular …. in fact I have had to make more each night for the next day!

The top ones hide a little lollipop inside and the bottom ones are battery operated tealights (I call them fat-free birthday cakes!). I have had lots of positive feedback about them and even had a couple of orders for specific colours. Thanks everyone!

Okay, that’s all for tonight, off to rest my feet for tomorrow Happy stampin’! Kari

Of course, with him leaving Kindy that’s a perfect excuse for Mummy to do some stamping! I made some little gifts for the teachers and early childhood workers at his Kindy, they have done a fabulous job with him and I know that they really care about the children they teach, so they deserved a little treat. I had ordered the Mini Milk carton die with the intent of making ‘something’ with that and while waiting for it to arrive I received some swaps from the INKlings Team Training day. Amongst the swaps was a gorgeous bird house made with this very die by Fiona Brown, so I knew that’s what I would make ….. with a couple of changes …… mine became ‘Rabbit hutches’ for 2 of the little Lindt gold bunnies (you can buy them in packs of 5 from Big W) and here they are ……

I also made a card to go with them in the same colour scheme and then to make it easy to carry them in while pushing a stroller and hurrying my little man along I made a tray too …..

There is some Champagne Mist shimmer paint on the butterfly to make it shimmer and I lightly dabbed the dauber over the lower portion of the card to add a very light shimmer to the stamped area too – and the same on the matching envelope of course! LOL! Just a pity I couldn’t get that to photograph well – sorry Miss Kylie, photos at night again!

I hope you like them, the girls at the kindy sure did! If you want to make your own bird house or rabbit hutch just google ‘mini milk carton bird house’ and you will find lots of online tutorials and youtube videos. If you’d like more details on the supplies that I used, please let me know and I can fill you in!

Happy end of Term 1 everyone! K

PS this was the ‘treat’ Aidan took to share with his class mates! 50-odd Gingerbread men with 3 buttons (HAD to be 3! LOL!) and he handed them out at the end of today’s Kindy session while his proud mummy watched

Yes, I know I leave it until the last minute to make the cards and then have to rush my photos in bad light, but I just had to take a photo to show you all! This card was for another little friend who was having a Toy Story party (no dress-ups this time though! LOL!) I knew his mum was making him a sheriff’s star cake, so I thought I’d try my hand at a punch art Woody.

I got some inspiration from Clare (another INKling) and Sheila and then just punched and played until I got him looking about right. Hopefully the birthday boy will like him … and recognise him! LOL! I decided to ‘hide’ Woody’s body behind a wooden fence (thankyou Woodland Walk DSP!) because otherwise he wouldn’t fit on the cardfront!

Thanks for stopping by, now I’m off to bake a cake … someone in this house needs a birthday cake soon too! K

I was agonising over the card I should make … I wanted it to be themed but I really couldn’t figure out how …. but then I decided that it should have an owl on it, so that was a good start! I had seen some gorgeous owls on Dani Holland’s blog and thought they were cute ‘holding’ the hearts so I figured I could do similar with a cupcake and so my new best friend (aka the Build a Cupcake punch) came to the rescue!

Of course I knew that the owl needed to be like Harry’s owl, Hedwig , so that decided the colours for me, but I wanted a little more texture on him, so I scrunched up my cardstock and then separated it to create a faux suede side before punching the layers out, you can see that a bit better below. 

On to the costume …. my sewing skills aren’t great and I didn’t measure anything, just used a piece of black material I had in the cupboard and the maroon is some leftover quilt binding I had in a drawer as well as some gold ribbon – well of course he had to be in Gryffindor colours! You may also be able to spot the scar drawn on his forehead too! Here is the little wizard I took with me …..

Thanks for reading! K

As soon as I saw the Sweet Stitches DSP I thought the colours would be perfect for a banner and of course then my colour scheme fell into place as I picked the colours from the DSP. I’ve used the Create a Cupcake Stampset along with the Build a Cupcake Punch too – they are fabulous products and I have seen so many ways to use them!

I cut the pennants for my banner by cutting a strip of DSP 1 1/4″ wide and then marking along one side at 7/8″ intervals. I then found marked along the other side of the strip at 7/8″ intervals, but started marking 7/16″ from the end of the strip. I was then able to quickly chop the pennants in my trimmer by lining up the diagonal marks. Once I stuck the pennants in place I then added a length of Daffodil Delight 1/8″ Taffeta ribbon to create the banner and, as you can see, I curled the ends of the pennants up so I could pretend they were flapping in the breeze

Enjoy your day! Kari

Welcome! You may have arrived here from the lovely Dani Holland’s blog or just be visiting my blog (thank you!), but whichever way you came here, once you’ve checked out my creations you can continue the hop through the link at the end of this post to the next team member.

With a new Mini Catalogue out today we thought it would be a great time to showcase the gorgeous new products to all our blog readers.

You can check out the new mini catalogue online here or if you’d like your own copy contact me today and I’ll pop one in the mail to you.

Want to win some Blog Candy? Simply leave a comment on each blog before midnight AEST on 3rd April and then email me at karigail@internode.on.net and let me know you’ve done so and you’ll be in the running for some fantastic handmade cards plus other goodies.

Sorry Blog Candy prize is only available to Australian residents and not to SU! demonstrators, but you’re more than welcome to leave us a comment!

So,  when I got my preview copy of the catalogue last month, there was a lot that I liked in there! You’ll get to see a few more of my purchases over the next few days and weeks, however, I quite liked the Clearly For You set on page 16. I wasn’t sure if it was really my style, but in an effort to challenge myself, I decided to purchase it and make sure I used it!

First up, I decided to create a gift card set in a mini Magazine holder box (the box and a different card set was the project for my Hostess Club ladies this month). Here you go ….

As you can see I used Old Olive for the card base and then added a little Blushing Bride, So Saffron, Early Espresso and More Mustard. Where did I get the inspiration for this colour scheme? On page 17 of the mini catalogue! I liked the colours in the thankyou card shown there, so I checked the Supply List and decided to use those colours. Now, the little background stamp is not large enough to cover the entire lower part of the card (folded card measures 2 7/8″ x 4 1/4″) so I got my stamp-a-ma-jig out and used that to stamp the image twice.

The strip of paper I used to decorate the box was cut from a piece of Botanical Gazette DSP which is on page 15 of the mini catalogue, I figured the theme and colours worked well with the cards.

Okay, now I did say that I promised myself that I would get a reasonable amount of use out of the stamp set so here’s card #2 ….

This one I used the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder on the card front. The stamped image was done with a background of the filigree stamp that I stamped in 2nd impression So Saffron ink onto the Very Vanilla cardstock first, and then I inked up the floral stamp with my markers to stamp it over the top.

Card #3 uses some of the Newsprint DSP with the ladybird stamped in second impression Riding Hood Red ink. I also stamped one of the ladybird images on a Very Vanilla Neutral brad using Stazon, there is a 3/4″ circle of Riding Hood Red cardstock mounted under the brad to make it stand out a bit more.

Lastly, card #4, I really loved the Love Note card sample in the catalogue so I used the colours and adapted it to fit my card size. That’s the beauty of the catalogues, that not only do they contain gorgeous products, but hundreds of ideas too!

Well that’s all from me. Next stop on the INKlings’ Team Blog Hop is the talented Fiona Brown’s blog. Have fun and don’t forget to leave a comment on each blog to win some great Blog Candy.

Cheers, Kari

PS Just in case you get lost on the hop, here is a list of the blogs participating …

It’s here! There are some gorgeous new products in here! Click on the image to view the catalogue online or click here to download it as a pdf …. or email me on karigail@internode.on.net and tell me your address and I’ll pop one in the post to you!

Here is a link to the Supply List too, so that you can figure out what colours and products are used in each project

Enjoy! K

You can start here and visit the other blogs along the way to see gorgeous new products and creative ideas ….and if you leave a comment on each one you can enter the draw for blog candy! Check out the post tomorrow for more details … see you then! K