Stampin' Up!® NEW catalogues

They’re here! They’re here! (yes I am a little excited!)

I finally have boxes of the brand spanking new 2007-2008 Australian/NZ Idea Book and Catalogue from Stampin’ Up!® – and they’re just gorgeous. (Thank you to the wonderful Jayne who helped me out with a photo today - my camera and the light just weren't playing nicely....)

If you want to get your own copy of this little baby – full of lots and lots of new stamp sets (over 120 NEW ones), cardstock, inkpads and accessories, not to mention the 335 new samples and ideas throughout the book, just drop me a line. All my existing customers ordering one before the 20th April can have one for $10 (RRP $12.95). After this date I’m going to have to include the cost of postage in the price, and since it is so much bigger Australia Post is classing it as a small parcel – this means it will cost $6.70 to post in NSW and $9 anywhere else in the country.

So please just let me know that you want one (and who wouldn’t? - it is GORGEOUS!) and I’ll pop it in the post that same day for you. I can accept payment by direct deposit and credit card for fast postage. Don’t forget – there is over 300 brand new samples and ideas in the book too, it is such a great resource that readers of Creating Keepsakes have just voted the US version as the best Idea Book for 2007. Of course it is also available to view online from April 2 - but who can wait until then???

Free stamps - for Stampin' Up! New Zealand

In case you haven’t already heard , Stampin’ Up!® is spreading its wings to New Zealand starting next month! What a fantastic opportunity for New Zealand stampers and scrappers to get in right at the very start of this exciting venture. It’s been a huge success here in Australia and this will surely be repeated across the Tasman in NZ. Stampin’ Up!® has announced a referral program for Australian demonstrators and prospective New Zealand demonstrators, whereby anybody signing up in New Zealand that has been referred by an existing Australian demonstrator will receive an extra FREE stamp set of their choice (valued up to $79.95) in addition to the fabulous value of their starter kit. The referring demonstrator (me hopefully !!) also receives a free set for sending the referral, and FREE stamps are always welcome!

If you or anybody you know in New Zealand is interested in this fantastic ground floor opportunity with Stampin’ Up!® and would like to get in on the FREE STAMPS action, email me now! Completed paperwork must be with the Australian Stampin’ Up!® office no later than 9 April. If you have any questions about it all, please feel free to contact me for more information.

Seriously – it is so much fun, and the ideal time to start your Stampin’ Up!® business – it has been SO successful over here and I’m loving being in it so early, has made for a very exciting (and busy) year.

And the winner is.....

OMG how slack am I? (no answers from the peanut gallery please - thanks Jenni and Leonie!)

I finally got around to drawing the winner from my little SAB set contest - thanks to everyone for your wonderful comments, hints and tips - I really look forward to getting moving on all these. It also made me feel all warm and fuzzy to know that someone out there IS reading me LOL.....

Anyway without further ado.... the winner is...

TASH ALLEN

Please contact me Tash with your details and which set you'd like at auntytraci@hotmail.com

Keep reading everyone - more updates to follow soon - I'm really trying to get on top of this blogging and business thing... life has been a bit hectic lately and will be filling you all in on that soon too!

Cheers
Tracey

Thanks and a little scrapping....

Thank you to everyone for all your hints and comments about what to put on my blog - I'm going to start implementing a lot of the great ideas.... if you haven't already done so, there's still time to leave a comment on this post to be in the running for the prize on offer!

Ok - scrapping.... I've done very little of this but am really starting to get into it and enjoy it - it truly does become addictive after a while. And its so much fun incorporating stamps into it too - have to use the rubber!!! and ink!!!



This is a 6x6 layout using all SU! goodies.
Cardstock is Very Vanilla, and the photo is matted using Sage Shadow and Orchid Opulence.
Inks used throughout are Orchid Opulence and Sage Shadow
The set used to make the background is Winged Things and Itty Bitty Backgrounds (the fly spot one for the Sage dots). The butterfly is stamped in black stazOn and coloured with Orchid opulence and Sage Shadow watercolour wonder crayons - these are AWESOME and the set of 48 is on the retiring list for us - so this month is the last chance for Aussies to grab the set of these - after this month they'll be available in colour families (which will add to more $$$ to get them all). Then I've used various alphabet sets to make the words and cut out the pieces, sponged the edges - and thats pretty much it.

Some of the words and the butterfly have been mounted up higher using Stampin' Dimensionals ® to give the page some texture - and the buttons from the Soft Subtles finish it off.

Thanks for looking!

Goodbye old friends, I have to go....

NO - not me LOL...

The retirement list from Stampin' UP! has been released! Stamp sets AND accessories! There are quite a few of my absolute favourites that are not going to make it into the new 2007-2008 Idea Book & Catalogue .

Click here to be see the list on the Stampin' Up! website - grab a cuppa and check it out - it's LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG, longer than I thought it would be.

Please remember that these retiring sets and accessories will only be available WHILE STOCKS LAST. Once they’re gone, we won’t be seeing them again *sob* . The last day for ordering the retired sets (if there are any left!) is March 31st. So if there is anything on that list that you really can’t live without, or have been putting off for whatever reasons.... contact me sooner, rather than later, to get your order in. I would really hate to see you miss out because we'd run out....

Of course there is a bright side to saying farewell to all these favourites….. there's HEAPS of room for NEW stuff in the next catalogue!

OK I'm off to pour over the list and my old catalogue and see what else I HAVE to get LOL!

Ooooh One day to go!!!!

Excitement is building over here in Oz - our very first retirement list is due to come out tomorrow!!!

This means the first year of Stampin' Up!® Australia is drawing to a close - and what a year its been! I've had so much fun, made lots and lots of new friends, gotten closer to some old ones, and learnt lots and lots of new and exciting things. Its been amazing!!!! I've also learnt a lot about myself, rediscovered some self confidence, and realised that there is a lot that I CAN do!

And not only do we have the retirement list coming - but that also means we have a NEW catalogue on the horizon.... I'm not sure which I'm more excited about! I can't wait to see what new stamp sets and accessories we're getting over here......

So keep your eyes peeled - the retirement list is coming soon... its oh-so-exciting - probably more so since we don't exactly know what to expect here LOL! If you live in the South west of Sydney and would like to have a 'retirement' workshop, or a 'New Catty' party contact me. If you don't live in this region but would still like a workshop please contact me and I'll be able to hook you up with someone from either mine or my sidelines teams - we cover pretty much all of Australia now *grin*.

It's just so fabulous being a Stampin' Up!® demonstrator - life is good!


All images ©Stampin' Up! 1990-2007
Stamp Sets used: Natural Beauty, French Script, Print Pattern
Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White (thinking I should have used Very Vanilla - oh well!) and Apricot Appeal
Coloured using the inkpads and an Aquapainter

Hmmm, what to write?

This is my dilemma with the whole blog thing - I often have no idea of what to write... I think maybe I should share some of my life and the inner workings of my mind (such as it is LOL), and then I think, I have no idea if anyone is actually reading all this and what they want to read or see...

So if you're reading this and have some ideas for me and suggestions as to what you want here...leave me a comment and let me know! Hmmmm, maybe I should make this a bit more interesting..... OK, leave a comment and be in the random draw for one of the four Stampin' Up! SellABration sets (your choice) from the recent SellABration promotion. This isn't open to SU! demos! I'll close this on the 12th of March, and announce the winner here on my blog on the 13th March.

Oh and while you're leaving a comment - sign up to my RSS feed (box to your right here --------->
and get notification in your inbox when I've updated LOL!

Happy Valentine's Day

To all the lovers out there - Happy Valentines Day!

Now hubby and I are not the most romantic couple in the world (understatement of the year there! LOL)... but we DO make it a point each day to tell the other how much we love them. So Valentine's isn't really something we 'do' much. BUT we always get or make a card for each other.... and I try to have a nice 'special' meal that night too - with kids its a little hard to get out for dinner, so we have something 'spesh' at home.

This year though I've made him a little book filled with lots of quotes about love that truly say how I feel about him (altogether now - awwwwwwwww...). I used the step-by-step challenge that one of Cath's fabulous DT at LSBS supplied for her cybercrop last weekend, and it was so simple, and I'm really happy with how it turned out. So is hubby - he loved it - and has even taken it inot work to show all the teachers in the staff room *blush*

Anyway here it is..... will pop in as many pics as blogger will let me LOL!




This is the front cover....









The front 3 pages.....









The 'back' 2 pages.....









Close ups of the front 3.....








And these are the flipside pages!








I've used black and white Bazzill for the pages, and SU! Whisper White to stamp the SU! Floral background stamp on using Basic Black and Real Red inks to make the 'patterned paper'. The "love" on the front cover was using the Big Deal Alpha set (from the mini - sorry guys) and Real Red ink. And I've embellished with assorted red primas, retro flower punchies, and red and black brads. Plus a few rubons and the quote stickers - and 'voila' a mini book. I hope you like it - I know we were really happy with it ;)

Scrapping! LOL

Scrapping! Not something I do very often or well - but I have to say I quite like this page heaps!

I made this while at a scrap night at PT's place - under the watchful and insightful eyes of the afore-mentioned princess, Cath, Shelee and Nic. Pretty much everything on the page has been donated LOL! Except for the Opals on the chipboard hearts, and the Stampin' Up! alphabet set and ink used for the title. (If you're interested the alpha set is Whimsical Lower, and the ink is Lavender Lace) They even taught me to sand the edges of my photos! OMG how scary was that for a non-scrapper.

Anyway, I really do love this, I think Eliza looks very sweet, and its a beautiful big photo of her - she's growing up so quickly though, those baby curls are barely there now *sob*

SAB reminder

Just a quick reminder that Stampin' Up!®'s biggest promotion of the year, Sell-A-Bration is ending soon (on 26th February)!

All you have to do is spend $100 on fabulous Stampin' Up! products - you then get to choose one of four exclusive Sell-A-Bration sets that can be viewed online at Stampin' Up! . For each $100 you spend you get to pick a set.

They are fabulous, nice sizes and lots of fun to use!

There are lots of extra benefits for hostesses too, and also a GREAT incentive to sign up this month - an extra set of your choice in your Starter Kit. That's up to a $79.95 value!!! So don't miss out - contact me (auntytraci@hotmail.com) now!

This is just a quick card I made with one of my favourite sets from the Stampin' Up! catalogue , the Seaside Sketches set. I love this set because it's so easy to colour and looks just gorgeous watercoloured, the images are so sweet and pretty.


I've stamped the girls in Basic Black on Whisper White and coloured them using the Pastels and blender pens. A couple of layers of Lavender Lace and Mellow Moss - and I've distressed the edges of each layer for a bit of texture and movement. The card base is Pretty In Pink, with some Moss gingham ribbon to finish it off.

Images Copyright 1990-2007 Stampin’ Up! Created by Tracey Eaton

Big Clean Up!

A couple of weekends ago (man, has it been that long already!) my upline, Angela, had a cyberstamp/crop on her demonstrator forum for us all. We had an awesome time chatting, and Jayne set some GREAT challenges for everyone. I've been in a bit of a slump creative-wise for quite some time now, and that had extended over to most aspects of my life, culminating in a HUMUNGO mess in my craft area - so I didn't even have a place that was conducive to stamping, let alone actually THINK of something to do.

One of Jayne's challenges was to put 5 things away from your craft desk...when I complained that that wouldn't even touch the surface, she set me the personal challenge of cleaning stuff up every 15 minutes! I couldn't do that that night (due to a whingy child!), but the next day I got inspired.....

I'm about to post some pics of the mess before - if absolute chaos and disorder bothers you - *PLEASE DON'T LOOK*.... I'm really not kidding on this.... it's SHOCKING!!!!



This is the overall view of the desk.....close ups to follow..... note that the chair can't even be gotten at due to the stuff directly behind it - yes I LIKE to work standing up! LOL


This is the middle of the desk - directly to the right of where I sit, and things just get shoved to here..... and moved along....



.... to here! Until they fall onto the floor or the piles get so big they topple over LOL! Wait until you see the floor!


Yep - this is the desk and floor - where the heck did all those boxes come from????


This is a close up of the little area I had left to work on - and people wonder why I don't scrap very much! LOL! Can't fit a 12x12 sheet on there!


Yep its ALL a mess, I couldn't even close the cupboard doors due to all the stuff piled on the floor in front of them..... let alone IN them.....

Phew - now you see why FIVE things wasn't going to make a difference LOL! How embarrassing actually showing you all that...but it DOES get better - I promise!

The next day I got very very motivated (first time in ages actually) and went and took Jayne's challenge and tidied...... and tidied..... and tidied some more....


First thing I did was find these racks from IKEA that had been sitting there for 3 months - well I got the drill and screws out and mounted them - and popped all my SU! inks in them. That cleared out one of the drawers inside the cupboard so I was able to close the drawer....and then tidied all the "stuff" down there so the cupboard doors could close! Made a HUGE difference and inspired me to keep going!


This is as good as it gets people! Took most of the day - but I actually got it done...... found some more containers while I was cleaning so some supplies got a bit more organised while I was going too!


This is now the right end of the desk....... much better - I even found the sewing machine cover!


This is where the sewing machine cover was hiding - along with the rest of the CRAP that was there - found homes for everything, and even vacc'd the rug!!!! The boxes that are left down there are 12x12 kits and Urban Lily and Chatterbox patterned papers (my favs), and the box on top holds all the different size tins that I bought and never did anything with.... that changed the very next weekend!!!

Hmmmmm, so now you've seen my dirty little secret - LOL! I really do owe a big THANKS to Jayne for giving me the motivation to get this done - it has made a HUGE difference to how I feel, and has even gotten me playing again.....

Back in the Saddle

Woo Hoo!!!

I've finally managed to create something - I've had a very slow lean few months lately - haven't been in the 'brain space' to create much of anything..... but I've had a lovely couple of days getting out some stamps and inks and playing. I got a stack of swaps finished (will be posted today to those that are waiting on me)... only one more to go and then I'm done!

Anyway, I'm pretty pleased with how this card turned out, this is the first time I've done this technique too.



The stamp set used is one of the four FREE sets that you can earn through SellAbration. This is the Delight in Life set.
The technique is emboss resist - and I've just discovered how easy it is! You stamp the images in Versamark onto gloss card and clear emboss them. Then sponge Classic inks over the top, and the embossed images will resist the ink. Thats IT! Easy peasy!
Colours used: Tempting Turquoise, Cameo Coral and So Saffron
Cardstock: as above plus confetti white
The corners are created with a little trick I learnt using the slit punch (thanks Alisa!) you just pop the corners in the centre of the semi circle, punch away and voila - little curved corners! I love this punch, there seems to be so many ways to use it! Great value for $9.50 I reckon.

Then the whole thing is finished off with a couple of contrasting strips of cardstock with some distressing and paper piercing.....the little holes seem to lift most things!

Sorry about the wonky photo, my scanner refuses to work at the moment, and I'm not sure of the technicalities of removing the 'bloat' from the centre of the photo.

I'll post in a little bit the main reason why I've been able to play.... I actually had a clean up!!! Will be showing you some before and after pics soon!

Also, keep an eye out - I'll be having a competition very soon.....

I've been tagged!!!!

Deborah from Living in a desert has tagged me:

A - Available or Single: Married for 12 (nearly 13 eeek!) years.

B - Best Friend: Have a fair number of people I call friend – and a couple of besties (you guys know who you are ;))

C - Cake or Pie: Ummmm, do I have to answer this one – I’d say cheese LOL

D - Drink of Choice: Water, coffee, .......oh OK and pretty much anything alcoholic *blush*

E - Essential item you use everyday: Deodorant

F - Favorite Color: SU! – Pumpkin Pie, other – purples, oh and oranges, and pinks and browns, and ooooh – do I have to choose just one!

H - Hometown: Born in Sydney Australia

I - Indulgence: Stamping.

J - January or February: February (my birthday!)

K - Kids & Names: Patrick (9), and Eliza (2)

L - Life is incomplete without?: My children and husband, friends and stamps (not necessarily in that order LOL!)

M - Marriage Date: April 9th, 1994

N - Number of Siblings: One

O - Oranges or Apples: Apples

P - Phobias or Fears: If I told you I'd then have to kill you!

Q - Fave Quote: "We must be the change we want to see in the world” Ghandi…. Oh and I also like “Well behaved women rarely make history” Mae West I think

R - Reason to Smile: my children’s smiles is enough for me

S - Season: Autumn

T - Tag 3 or 4 People: Princess-Tamara, Jenni Oliver, Lavenda, Alisa

U - Unknown fact about me: not sure if I want to share that! LOL (see P!)

V - Vegetable you don't like: Parsnips - ewwwwww

W - Worst Habit: Stressing big time over the little things

X - X-rays: Wrist, cervical spine (neck),ultrasounds, and MRI

Y - Your Fav Food: Chips *blush*

Z - Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

Hope I’ve done this right – its my first time tagged!

So now I tag – PT, JenniO, Lavs and Alisa

Oh boy!

I've just realised that I haven't posted all year yet - I wish I could say I've been busy but that really isn't true. Truth is, even though it's only January, it's already been a huge year of change for us, with lots more to come.

I'm battling my own personal demons at the moment - I wish that 'black dog' would just up and go away, but he seems to have decided that my mind and body are a good cozy home for the moment. I'm trying, but it's a very big hole that I've let myself get into - so I think it's going to take some time to get out of there. I have read some fabulous accounts of this written by people much more eloquent than me - and when I find the links I will post them here for those that are interested.

Also, and this is a positive thing, I am now on 3 months long service leave from my dead end job! This is my time to try and fix myself, my family, and work on my slowly growing Stampin' Up! business. Hopefully so that I don't have to actually go back again! If that happens it will be PARTY TIME.....

Anyway, if you've got this far - congratulations! I can't believe that you've wanted to read all this drivel LOL! I will be posting again very soon - have started to write out goals and hopes and dreams to try and work my way towards them - once something is written down it becomes much more concrete and achievable (in my mind anyway).

So my apologies to anyone waiting on a swap or 3 from me, I am starting to work on all these now.

To my lovely gorgeous Stampin' Up! customers, friends, downlines and sidelines, and online buddies - thank you for all that you have done for me this past year, that really has been one light in my life - to have found all these people through my passion for papercrafting and to have made so many gorgeous friends.

Bye for now (not for long ;))

FREE STAMPS!!!

Woo hoo!!!

Now I totally have your attention...... SellABration is starting with Stampin' Up!




What's this?

Well for every $100 order you place you get to pick one of our 4 exclusive SellABration sets for FREE. You can view these online here, or ask me for a full colour copy of the brochure.

These will only be available for the SellABration period of Jan 1 to Feb 26....so get your order in before these little beauties are gone forever. These sets will never be offered again, either in a mini catalogue or a future Idea Book & Catalogue.

Also, there are bonuses for signing up as a demonstrator during this period (a FREE set of your choice from any of the current catalogues - up to $79.95 value), as well as extra hostess benefits during this time!!!

A great deal all round I reckon :D

So contact me for more information and the chance to earn stamps TOTALLY FREE!!!!

I created a Slide Show! Check it out!

Now to work out how to move it! LOL!

Just a quickie

Just a quick little card that I made this afternoon - I think it looks very sweet...and I might just HAVE to make some more *grin*


Stamp sets used are Mostly Flowers, Floral Background stamp (love that sucker!)and the "many thanks" is from All Year CheerI
Card used is Apricot Appeal
Ink used is Pumpkin Pie (of course - this would have to be my absolute favourite Stampin' Up! colour at the moment) and Black Stazon.
I've used the slit punch to make the little semi circle closure thingo, and popped an orange eyelet into it with some gold cord.

Thanks for looking - will hopefully have more to share very shortly!

I'm so slack ;)

Hi all

Yes I have been a very slack blogger lately...we've had a few issues happening here, will fill you in on them a little later.

I just wanted to share a *gasp* scrapbook layout that I did, and am very proud of. It was created for Cath at LSBS, and since I'm not a scapper it won me the 'encouragment award' for the Cybercrop - YIPPEE!



The flowers in the circle are from the Looks Like Spring stamp set featured in the Spring Mini Catalogue , and the smaller ones have been punched out using the Spring Bouquet Flower Punch. Both of these items are from the mini catalogue and this means they are limited time only - so if you're loving the look of them don't forget that these are only available until the end of January, let me know if you'd like to order them. The ink colours that I've used are So Saffron, Certainly Celery and Pixie Pink for both the title and the small flowers, and the large flowers have been done in Pixie Pink and the edges "rock and rolled" in Rose Red.

The "O" in the title is a chipboard one that has been coated using Opals, an ultra thick embossing powder made in Australia by PipeDreamInk. The doodles around the edge are actually stamps that I purchased from LSBS, they're the clear Autumn Leaves ones by Rhona Farrer, extremely versatile!

So there you go - a scrapping layout from me! Forgot to mention that this was a sketch challenge on the night, and what a fanastic sketch it was. I'm loving the flowers in a circle, and this is the first wedding photo that I've scrapped... and I really enjoyed it!

Melbourne Cup

Now I'm not into horse racing...if truth be known I'm not into horses at all, was never one of those girlies that went horsie ga-ga...but Jenni at TSS had one of her fabulous cyberstamps last Friday night (and all weekend) and one of the challenges was create a Melbourne cup quinella...to be inspired by the whole extravaganza that is The Melbourne Cup in Oz. I was quite chuffed with what I made so thought I'd share it with you.