THEY ARE STARTING TO ARRIVE

Even if I didn't already know I was way behind making my Christmas cards, I would today because we have started to receive some, even Max our dog got one in the mail yesterday.

I like quick and easy at the best of time, but with only a few weeks to go, I need super quick and easy, I need to make about 160, crazy.

Like most crafters I scower Pinterest, I came across this lovely card by Liz Yuille, a UK Demonstrator, very quick, very simple, a stamp set I love but colours I would never think to put together, especially for Christmas, Real Red and Early Espresso. I just love it. Thank you Liz.

The Wise Men from Afar, sadly is retired but it is one I will keep and use year after year, though I don't think I would have stamped it in Early Espresso, how great does it look?.

This is one card you can make multiples of very quickly. 

If you would like to receive my weekly Newsletter, please complete the subscription form and as a thank you I will send you a free tutorial to a card project.

Talk soon, take care


Sue x




Product List

Real Red A4 Card Stock

[106578]

$15.25

Early Espresso A4 Card Stock

[121686]

$15.25

Whisper White A4 Card Stock

[106549]

$17.00

Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad

[147084]

$13.00

Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad

[147114]

$13.00

Paper Trimmer

[152392]

$44.00

Bone Folder

[102300]

$12.00

Multipurpose Liquid Glue

[110755]

$7.00

Red Rhinestone Basic Jewels

[146924]

$12.25

STAYING WITH SCRAPBOOKING

To keep myself accountable I will be posting some scrapbook pages as I go but in the meantime I thought I would just attach this little video to show that even doing pocket page scrapbooking and using bought pocket cards, you can still be artistic and personalise them.

Stampin' Up! have Memories and More Packs and these together with the beautiful Designer Series Papers, there is no limit to what you can do.

Each packs contains:

* 50 total double-sided cards (2 each of 25 designs) in 3" x 4" (7.6 x 10.2 cm)  
   and 4" x 6" (10.2 x 15.2 cm) sizes
* 6  specialty cards
* 4 sticker sheets

All are acid free, lignin free and are great for scrapbooking and cardmaking

Click here to watch the video which showcases the Magnolia Lane Memories and More Card Pack.

If you would like to receive my weekly Newsletter, please complete the subscription form and as a thank you I will send you a free tutorial to a card project.

Talk soon, take care, 

Sue x

Some of the products available

Magnolia Lane Memories & More Card Pack

[149554]

$19.25

Come Sail Away Memories & More Card Pack

[149552]

$19.25

Santa's Workshop Memories & More Card Pack

[147905]

$17.50

Variety Pack 12" X 12" Photo Pocket Pages

[144204]

$13.00

Variety Pack 6" X 8" Photo Pocket Pages

[144205]

$10.50

Basic Black 6" X 8" Album

[144203]

$17.50

Black Polka Dot Memories & More 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Printed Album

[150319]

$52.00

TO SCRAPBOOK OR NOT TO SCRAPBOOK

Anyone in my age group will remember the scrapbooks of old. Large paper backed books, more like an exercise book than one you would read.

The pages were like butchers paper and you cut things out from  magazines etc and pasted the into the book usually with some sort of claggy paste.

Things have come a long ways since then,I know you can still buy that sort of  scrapbook but us scrapbookers now want something much more arty farty, a real piece of art that can be handed down from generation to generation.

I discovered Scrapbooking about 12 years ago, I was told it was a very relaxing hobby, I was impatient and it was time consuming and a lot of the layouts only had one photograph, with the number of photos I had and wanted to scrap I would have needed an extra room for the books alone.

About 5 years ago, I discovered pocket scrapbooking, for a little while I was hooked on that  and tried the Project 365,taking a photo everyday and scraping it,  I think I manged about 6 months. It was a great way to get photos in albums but it wasn't very arty and I need something arty.

So I now combine both forms of scrapooking, though I am way, way behind. Not that I make New Years Resolutions, but if I did, getting as much scrapped as I can would be mine for 2020.

Sadly there are many people like me, who don't have children or anyone to pass them down to, but for me I have two reasons why I want to scrapbook:

1. My Now
2. My Future

That probably sounds silly but...............

My now: gives me a creative outlet

My future: is that when I am older and maybe unable to do things or remember and will have something I can look back on. As I said it probably sounds silly but the mind is an amazing thing and lovely memories can bring us joy no matter how old we are or what our situation is. 

Take care, talk soon

Sue x

SO WHO WANTS A SNEAK PEEK?

OK I have shown you the cover of the new catalogue (I can't show you what is inside until it goes live in January, 2020, but I can show you my pre-pre-order).

I am going to break this up a bit so the post isn't too long.

Not only will the Mini Catalogue go live in January, so will the Sale-A-Bration Catalogue for 2020,  I have a couple of those products  to show you as well.

As always with Sale-A-Bration, for every $90 spent on any Stampin' Up! product between 3rd January, 2020 and 31st March, 2020 (before shipping and handling) you can choose a free Sale-A-Bration product. There are a few options if you spend $180.

One thing I was lacking in my stash was just sentiment sets and there are some gorgeous ones coming up.

From the Mini Catalogue I got these two:

I have papers etc to show you another day.

From Sale-A-Bration, I got these two:

on top of which, because I qualified for Host Rewards I was able to get this out of the Sale-A-Bration catalogue,

Too cute, don't you agree?

These will all be available 3rd January, 2020, however if you can't wait that long, as a demonstrator you will be able to pre-order 3rd December, 2019.

Contact me here, to learn about joining the Stampin' Up! family and receiving 20% discount on all products plus other great advantages, with no obligation to sell.

Take care, talk soon


Sue x

LOOK WHAT I MISSED

Before I start the Christmas cards I thought I'd do a bit of housekeeping and guess what I found, more swaps and gifts from OnStage and they are so lovely I had to let you see them

How cute are these?

I've also received a couple of swaps from a Facebook Group I am in, the theme this month was obviously Christmas, again another couple of cute cards

I don't know about you but after seeing some other cards I have had a change of mind about some of the sets that I said I would never buy.

I've received my pre-order for the new catalogue,  so gorgeous, the official pre-order isn't until the 3rd December, 2019 for demonstrators but those of us who were at OnStage were able to pre-order from a small selection of what will be available. Customers can order from 3rd January, 2020

I'll post photo's tomorrow.

If you would like to receive my weekly Newsletter, please complete the subscription form and as a thank you I will send you a free tutorial to a card project.

Take care, talk soon


Sue x

SOMEONE NEEDS TO GET MOVING

The countdown is on, one month today Santa comes a calling. 

Part of the Christmas hullabaloo is already done, we made a decision this year not to buy Christmas gifts, we all have everything we need, so buying is for the sake of buying and that's not right. So we are making donations in lieu.

Most of our state is in severe drought and some catastrophic bush fires have devastated major areas.

A lady in a nearby suburb set up a Facebook Page dedicated to helping the struggling farmers of NSW by people of the Central Coast. They are collecting non perishable food and toiletries, which is being sent our bush every few weeks.

This has grown especially now with Christmas around the corner, she came up with the idea of sponsoring a farmer. The work put into this is nothing short of amazing, the last figures I heard were that over 1300 families and individuals were being sponsored.

We were allocated a couple and then a single. 

Living in city areas most of us have no idea what these people go through, it's heartbreaking to hear some stories. A friend of ours is leaving on Wednesday to go bush delivering hay, she said the look on the faces of the farmers is incredible but the look on the face of the livestock melts your heart.

There is also a group from the RSPCA travelling with them taking rescued pets for the people who lost their own the bushfires. I could cry thinking about it.

Back to Christmas, now I have to sit down and get my cards made, I always seem to leave that until the last minute so expect some posts relating to Christmas cards in the next few week.

If you would like to receive my weekly Newsletter, please complete the subscription form and as a thank you I will send you a free tutorial to a card project.

Take care, talk soon



Sue x

THE JOY OF SETS CHRISTMAS BLOG HOP DECEMBER, 2019

Thank you for hopping from Libby to me Sue Allen, today is the last The Joy of Set Blog Hop for 2019. 

The theme for this months' Hop is,  Anything goes, cards, boxes, bags, traditional Christmas, Christmas in the sun, fun, Nordic.. anything you like and any brands you like too, so I've taken it literally and combined new product with old.

For years my Christmas cards have been traditional colours, red, green, navy or white, this year I'm making them a little less traditional. 

One of my favourite Christmas stamp sets, is Stampin'Up!'s Wise Men from Afar, this is now retired but there is no way I will get rid of it, it will come out Christmas after Christmas.

I have made several different cards with it this stamp set (I will blog others at some point) the one I am showing today is using the Pretty Peacock, one of Stampin' Up!'s In Colours 2019-2021, it's gorgeous. 

I've teamed it with the Brightly Gleaming Designer Series Paper and the Noble Peacock Foil.

Simple and elegant in my eyes.

Now it's time to continue with the Blog Hop, please click the next button to move on to Fiona, thank you for taking the time to stop awhile at my blog.

Don't forget you can receive the Stamping Around the World Tutorial Bundle for free with any purchase from my online store, or you can purchase it from me for $20, please email me for full detail, contact me here.

Here's a sneak peek.

If you would like to receive my weekly Newsletter, please complete the subscription form and as a thank you I will send you a free tutorial to a card project.

Take care, talk soon

Sue x

Product List

Pretty Peacock A4 Cardstock

[150886]

$15.25

Whisper White A4 Card Stock

[106549]

$17.00

Brightly Gleaming Specialty Designer Series Paper

[150429]

$25.00

Noble Peacock Foil Sheets

[149495]

$17.50

Pretty Peacock Classic Stampin’ Pad

[150083]

$13.00

Layering Circles Dies

[141705]

$58.00

Paper Trimmer

[152392]

$44.00

Multipurpose Liquid Glue

[110755]

$7.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$6.00

SCRAPPY SCRAP, SCRAP

Also being a patchwork/quilter, we are taught to hang on to our scraps, well it's the same with paper crafting. But I find it more difficult to know what to do with the scraps or even how to store them, please let me know if you have any ideas.

On my list of topics for up-coming blogs I will have a series on how to use scraps from large to small. 

So I thought I would throw one in today.

I'm ashamed to say that when I first got the Pressed Petal Specialty DSP, I didn't like it, so when I first cut into some of the papers I wasn't careful how I cut it, I never thought I would grow to like it, never thought I would want to use every scrap. So I had a few larger pieces in my scrap box.

The Pressed Petal Specialty DSP is really lovely and very versatile, yesterday i needed  a quick Birthday card, most people know my favourite card stock colours are Night of Navy and Crumb Cake, so look what happens when you put both of these together with some of the Pressed Petal Specialty DSP.

Simple and clean. I hope the person receiving it, likes it as much as I do.

Don't forget, if you would like to receive my weekly Newsletter, please complete the subscription form and as a thank you I will send you a free tutorial to a card project.

Take care, talk soon

Sue x

Product List

Night Of Navy A4 Card Stock

[106577]

$15.25

Crumb Cake A4 Card Stock

[121685]

$15.25

Whisper White A4 Card Stock

[106549]

$17.00

Pressed Petals Specialty Designer Series Paper

[149500]

$25.00

Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad

[147110]

$13.00

Multipurpose Liquid Glue

[110755]

$7.00

Bone Folder

[102300]

$12.00

Paper Trimmer

[152392]

$44.00

GOODIES I RECEIVED AT ONSTAGE

Some people are just so talented, the swaps we received from other demonstrators at Onstage were varied, cards, boxes of chocolates, lollies, coffee, I even got a pair of ear-rings made out of some of Stampin' Up! trinkets.

Here's my haul:

CHECK OUT THE EAR-RINGS 

Aren't they gorgeous? lots of great ideas to try.

Take care, talk soon

Sue x

PS: if you would like to receive my weekly Newsletter, please complete the subscription form and as a thank you I will send you a free tutorial to a card project.