Watercolour Class

Oops!  Sorry to all of you who have been checking back faithfully to see a sneak peak for the watercolouring class I had today.   HERE is finally a picture of one of the cards we made today.  Some fine artists we had here - very impressive colouring.  Thanks ladies for coming along!   This card was inspired by the wonderful Alisa Tilsner who gave a watercolouring tutorial at the Stampin' Up! Conference last month.  We learnt a few simple tips and tricks that has changed the level of my watercolouring.  Thanks so much Alisa!

Recipe : Stampset: Boatloads of Love.  Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie, Not Quite Navy, Watercolour Paper.  Ink: Black Staz On, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Grey, Not Quite Navy for colouring.  Accessories: 5/8" Vanilla Grosgrain Ribbon, Retired SU DP.

 I have a question for you - "What does the average woman spend 3 1/2 hours every day doing?"  Post your guesses here - if you guess correctly, I'll post you one of each of the cards from today's class!  You need to be specific...  If more than one of you get it right, I'll randomly pick the winner from the correct answers.  I will draw the winner (if you can guess correctly...) on Wednesday at 9pm, and tell you the correct answer.

BTW - I have my first email winner (Well done to Megan Finer, who sent me an email after seeing my new email details on my blog), and am now half way towards having the 100th emailer.  Megan - I'll give you your treat on Wednesday.

Have a wonderful long weekend.

Michelle

M&M's Swap & A Sleeping Baby..

Good afternoon!   Now that we've done our swapping at our M&M's meeting this morning, I can post  my card.  I was so excited - the cards we got were soooo cool (I'm sure that Kim will post them all, so I'll direct you to her blog to see the others!) Kim Richards.     This was my swap - LOVED the neutrals we had to use (Thanks so much Helen, for a great idea). 

Recipe: Stamp Sets: Baroque Motifs, Lovely As A Tree, Occasional Greetings.  Cardstock: Basic Grey, Going Grey, Basic Black, Whisper White.  Ink: Versamark, Basic Grey.  Accessories: 1/4", 1 1/4" & 1 3/8" Square Punches, Large & Small Oval Punches.

 

 

And just to prove that "I've still got IT (whatever IT may be), here's the proof that little girls WILL eventually go to sleep - as long as their Mum's are nowhere to be seen.  I had Bella for the afternoon, and she was just so sweet.  She sat in Riley's bed with an assortment of books to read, then fell asleep, and is still sleeping now.  I'm going to have to wake her up to go and get the boys from school.  Shame!   Trudi - hope you had a great afternoon.  Lovely having a loan of a little girl for a while!

Oh, just in case you are wondering, I am STILL working on the sneak peek for this weekend's Watercolouring Class.  Hopefully soon...

 

Have a great afternoon.

Michelle

Watercolouring Class This Saturday

Good afternoon - WOW, the weather has just been absolutely brilliant again today.  Freezing to start, but then the day just turns out amazing.  REALLY should be up that mountain on a day like this.  Anyway, just a reminder about this Saturday's class - Watercolouring.  I have some spaces still available for this class.  It starts at 1.30pm, and we will be making three cards with envelopes.  Cost is $15.00, which includes a roll of adhesive for you to use and take home.   For those of you who are registered already, remember that if you wish to bring along a plate for afternoon tea to share, then I'll put you in the draw for one of you to win a free classic ink pad.  At the moment, there is only one lady in the draw, so you've got to be in to win!   IF YOU ARE INTENDING TO BRING A PLATE, PLEASE LET ME KNOW PRIOR TO SATURDAY.  Sorry, but you only go in the draw if you let me KNOW that you are bringing along a plate.  I'm working on finishing off one of the cards tonight for the class, so have a check-in tomorrow for the sneak peek for one card.

Enjoy your day

Michelle

Baroque Motifs in five minutes

Happy Monday!  It's absolutely FREEZING here in New Plymouth.  I just want to stay home by the fire, and not go out again at all.  Now, there's a chance I can actually do that, if I make the boys walk home on the Walking School Bus!  Last night (while watching Grey's Anatomy) I made my M&M's challenge card, which was to use neutral cardstock only, and I'm really pleased with my card.  I'm NOT going to post it until after our meeting though, as I know that my team will be tempted to look, and that kinda spoils the fun, so you can see that one later.  The REALLY simple card I will post for now is another one with Baroque Motifs.   This card really took me no more than 5 minutes from start to finish, including cutting out the flower thing in the middle.   I can't believe how much I love this set - it is just so versatile, and cards don't need to be difficult or complicated - this set does quick & simple very well.    The brad in the middle is from the Pretties Kit - Beautiful!  Enjoy the rest of your Monday. 

Recipe : Stamp Set : Baroque Motifs.  Cardstock: Basic Black, Real Red, Whisper White.   Ink: Whisper White, Real Red.

Scrappin Sunday

Good evening!   Hope you are all enjoying the slightly different look for my blog - I find the pictures are so much clearer with the black background, so hope you like it!  Seeing as it IS Sunday, and I DID say that I would post a new scrapbooking page each Sunday.. Here it is!  OK.   Sooo I might have made this last week (and about 8 people have already seen it, but it's new to most of you!     I have had an incredibly busy weekend, which has been just fantastic, so have not had any time to scrap or stamp - until now.  I'm busy bringing out all my stamping things into the lounge in front of the fire, and the T.V (as it's almost 8.30, and you KNOW what's on at 8.30pm on a Sunday night - so don't ring me, as I won't answer.  Really. I won't!!).  I'll make a card or two tonight and post them tomorrow, but for now, this page will do.  This is our family before we had Riley.  We all look so young!  Where have those days gone?  This photo was taken by my good friend Keren (thanks SO much - you're fabulous) down at the foreshore. 

The paper I used is the Outlaw DP, and the cardstock is chocolate chip & old olive, along with the scallop punch, 2 x circle punches, and the fantastic favourite of mine - BAROQUE MOTIFS.  LOVE this set.    Such a quick layout, but I'm really pleased with it.    Enjoy your Sunday night.

Edited to note : Hi Helen - welcome home, and no, this post was honestly done BEFORE you rang me at 8.29pm. LOL

Palette 'O Prints Is finishing quickly!

Hi (again) - sorry, but I've just seen that the Palette 'O Prints promotion that Stampin' Up! has for this month has been extremely popular - so popular in fact that stock is going to run out earlier tham expected. If you have not yet ordered yours, then do it really fast, as the expected duration for this promotion is now 5 days. The papers are really fantastic - I'll try and make one more card just to tempt you all. Just spend $40, and you can purchase the 48 pieces of double sided DP for just $14.95. CRAZY!
Goodnight (again)

A NEW EMAIL ADDRESS!! YAY!

Yes, I've actually got so frustrated with my current emails getting lost & choosing not to go to some poor people who think I've deleted them from my class list!  Here it is - make sure you change my details over, and hopefully this will be the start of a long happy email relationship  8-)

o2bstampin@hotmail.com

WHO is my very first email going to be from???  I can't wait to see.  Maybe I'll even have a little gift for the first, and the 100th emails that I receive in.  YES - I will, so get to it.

Don't know why I haven't done this before - I guess my optimism that my current ISP will actually FIX my problem was misguided.  Sorry to all of you who haven't been getting my updates - I'll take that as a sign that you care!

Have a great  night - I might just head for bed.  Maybe.  Or maybe I'll cruise some blogs and be inspired!

A real quick one for today.

Good morning!   A really quick post this morning, as I'm trying to get out to my son's first rugby game, and I still haven't done the housework (and I'm really hoping that my DH will come home and take me out to lunch!), so here's a card we made at $2 cards last month that was inspired by a card I received at conference as a swap (which I'm desperately trying to find in amongst my wonderfully tidy office (NOT))

RECIPE : Stamp Sets: Office Accoutrement, Bud Basics.  Cardstock: Elegant Eggplant, Only Orange, Whisper White.  Inks: Elegant Eggplant, Only Orange.  Accessories: Spring Bouquet Punch, Spiral Punch.

Two of my Riley...

All right Jacqui - here they are.  Sorry, I started loading these at 5.15pm, but then things got busy, and I've been out to my lovely ladies at Inglewood High School tonight, so I sort of got sidetracked, but HERE THEY ARE!

These pictures are both of Riley - then aged 3.  Don't you just love that cheeky little look?   And YES, he did catch that fish by himself.  I used the wonderful "Cherish" rub-ons for the "memories" down the side of the photograph, and I really do love it.  These are both 6x6 pages, and are really really simple.  That's the only way that I'm ever going to get my photos onto pages - SIMPLE!  The DP on the fish page is from the Outlaw series.  That's really cool as well.  

That's all for tonight - I might just post some more one day.  Have a great night.

Michelle

When it gets light...

Good morning!   Well - I did it!   My first scrapbooking class.  The lovely ladies who came along were very kind, and even though we didn't complete the whole album in one night (Ha!) it was a lot of fun.  I have 18 - YES EIGHTEEN - pages that I completed over the past 24 hours, and even tho' they are simple, I'm really pleased with them.  There are photos from three years ago (and even 8 years ago) that I had never scrapped because the task seemed way to big to take on in the short spaces of time I seem to have free, so this has just been fantastic.  I'm now going to TRY and scrap one page a week - I'll call it Scrappin Sunday.  I will post my page for the week on my blog, and hope this inspires you to make a start yourself.  But for right now, I can't post as I haven't yet taken the photos of the pages, and it's not light enough yet to photograph.  I'll do it a little later today, so check back then!

Have a fantastic day!

Michelle

Sorry - I'm waaay to busy to be posting!!

Good evening!   Just letting you know that I've not forgotten about my blog, but I'm just WAY to busy to be posting pictures - seems I'm out all day at the moment, and the lighting at night is totally useless for photographing, so you will just have to wait until (hopefully) Thursday.  I'm flat out finishing off my album for the Scrapbooking Class tomorrow night.  I've got to confess - I was really dreading this class (no, not because of the women who are coming) because I feel so completely inadequate when it comes to scrapping - it's such a personal thing, but NOW - well!  I'm on a roll.  I've really enjoyed putting together pages for ideas of how to use our wonderful Designer Paper, and how to make your own embellishments, and am now just really looking forward to the class.  Thanks to Rel for pushing me to offer a scrapbooking class - hope you ladies enjoy yourselves tomorrow night (Yes Sarah - I know you'll just enjoy being out for the night anyway!  LOL) as much as I have over the last couple of nights.   So make sure you check back later for some sneaks of one or two of my pages.  This is my all time favourite photo of our boys.  I wonder what I'm going to do with it....

Goodnight!

This was ME!!

You HAVE to check out Amy Rysavy's blog (www.prairiepaperandink.typepad.com) for a pictue of ME, posted on 12th May 2008!   Amy's blog is one I check out all the time.  She's just a fabulous stamper, and has a gorgeous style, but this card in particular is ME!!  On Thursday I went shopping - 50% off footwear shopping!   I came away from the shop with two pairs of boots, and the hugest grin!   Happy Mother's Day to ME.  That's what I told DH anyway (Mr "don't worry about a card for Mother's Day!").  Anyway - I forgave him on Thursday when I  bought my own present - and I spent way more than he would have normally as well!  I guess he DID make me a really nice breakfast as well! Anyway, make sure you check out Amy's blog.  

 

I'll be putting out my June (how can it possibly be nearly June already?) classes tomorrow night, so keep your eyes posted.  If you do NOT receive them via email - LET ME KNOW!   I'm gearing up for another Mid Winter Christmas Workshop, which we had to run three times last year, because it was just so popular!   Don't miss it - dates WILL be out tomorrow.   

Have a great night - I'll be trying to sort through the mountain of paperwork in my office tonight, so I can concentrate on being creative tomorrow!  Ha!

Stamp Club Projects

These were the sweetest little projects today - at least I really enjoyed making them.  I know some of you ladies found them a little fiddly, but at the end, they really are very cool!  The first is a (badly photographed) card shown from the front, then the inside.  It's really easy, and super cute.  Stamp set is the lovely Garden Whimsy.

The next project is a gift/candy holder using the So Swirly Wheel, and Baroque Motifs.  This is a case from a blog I've seen recently, and as soon as I find it, I'll post the link to the original (which incidentally looks exactly like mine! LOL)  And the final project is an acetate candy box - my favourite item.   Using (again) the So Swirly Wheel, and the wonderful scallop punch, as well as Circle of Friendship.   This box was possibly filled with something like brightly coloured M&M's at one stage today, but my self-control left me, and I ate the lot of them, so had to find something real quick to replace them with so I could fill it up for a photo.  All I could find was some stinkin' Milk Bottles (which I don't really like, which is why there are still some of those in my cupboard!)  Doesn't quite look as good, but you get the idea!   If you would like the template for this box, then you'll have to leave me a comment.  Hope you day's been great - I'm so tired, and am heading to bed before my DH even gets home! 

Night all.

  

The latest antics...

  Yep, the boys are at it again!  Doesn't Mason just look like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth??  WELL.  I heard the laughter coming from the bathroom, where Mason & Riley were supposedly brushing their teeth... when I went in to give them the hurry up, I found Mason tickling Riley's face with a little brush.  Funny.  Until I discovered it was Riley's hair that had made up the little brush.  Mason had given him a haircut - a big chunk right out of his fringe.  Riley wasn't to upset - until I told him he would have to go to school looking like a nerd.  Yes, I did say that!  Whoops!   Mason also wasn't too upset.  Until I told HIM that it would cost about $15 from his pocket money to FIX the haircut that he had just given his brother!   BOYS!!!!   Anyway, I guess it could have been worse - they could have cut MY hair!  LOL.   I want to post two cards that were made by wonderful friends for Mason's 8th birthday on Saturday.  Cherie & Jacqui - THANK YOU!!  Your cards are both amazing! They are both way better than the one I gave to him, as I remembered at 5am Saturday morning that I hadn't made a card.  {Shame}.  Mine is so bad, that I'm not even going to post it.   But Mason didn't care.  He was so excited about getting a card in the post  (thanks Jac), and even tho you warned me that it was "the worst card you've  ever made"... I think it's just FABULOUS!   Ladies - you are both so clever, and I'm so grateful.    Wishing you all a wonderful day, and check back tomorrow to see what we make at Stamp Club this month.

 

 

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mum's!

 

Just reflecting on my son's 8th birthday today, and Mother's Day tomorrow made me want to say "Happy Mother's Day" to all the Mum's.  Wishing you all a fabulous day with happy, co-operative children who obey your every request!

OK, so now back to the real world huh?  Our boys are all tucked up for the night, so I looked on the net to find some Mother's Day poems or quotes.  This one just jumped out at me!

"The joys of motherhood
are never fully experienced
until the children are in bed."

Author Unknown.

 

Inglewood High School Course starts next Thursday

Good morning.  I thought I'd get in early today and let you all know that the Inglewood High School course is starting again next Thursday, 15th May.  There are two courses running back to back, each are four weeks long.  You can register for them by either phoning Inglewood High School, or emailing/phoning me.  The cost is $20.00 per person for the course, plus $4.00 per night expenses (this is paid direct to me on the first night).  We've had a lot of fun at these courses in the past, so if you want to come along for a real laugh while making some awesome projects including cards and 3D items such as boxes & bags, then please contact me.  Hi to those "addicted stampers" who have already registered for the class (hope the move has gone well) - I'm looking forward to catching up with you again on Thursday.

Thought I'd post a card as well that we made at $2 cards on Monday night.  This card is pretty much a case from Helen McEwen's card from our M&M's swap that I posted a week ago.  Thanks Helen for your cool layout ideas!   Have a fantastic day SHOPPING WITH 44 OTHER WOMEN FOR THE WHOLE DAY!   Bliss!  Ahhhhh.  

Recipe : Stamp Sets : All in the Family, Short & Sweet, All Year Cheer 1 (retired).  Cardstock : Certainly Celery, Purely Pomegranate, Whisper White.  Inks : Purely Pomegranate, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Basic Black.  Accessories : 1 3/8" Circle Punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, scallop punch, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig.

Swap card for April

I know, I know - it's been a few days since I blogged.  Sorry Kim!   Know you've been checking.  Seem to lose a few hours each day, and never quite make them up again.  I had a fantastic day yesterday, spending the afternoon stamping JUST FOR FUN with Helen.  Thanks Helen - it was great just making cards together.   Really enjoyed myself.  Then, I had a lovely dinner out with some girlfriends last night, and came home intending to blog & stamp, but just didn't quite get there.    Soooo, here it is - this is my card for the NZ Stampin' Up Demonstrators swap for May.  We simply had to make a card using the Designer Paper that is on special this month.  I opened up my pack of paper, and I really do love it.  Make sure you check out the special on the Stampin' Up Website, or details further down in my blog. 

Recipe : Stamp Sets: Scribble This, Occasional Greetings.  Cardstock: Purely Pomegranate, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip.  Inks: Rose Red, Close to Cocoa (Marker).  Accessories: MY NEW FIVE PETAL FLOWER PUNCH!, Spring Bouquet Flower punch, Gold Brads, 5/8" Vanilla Grosgrain Ribbon, Palette 'O Prints DP, Markers.  

Hi to Megan {{Big Hug To YOU}} and thanks so much for your comment!  Check out Megan's blog HERE Megan has some fantastic cards on her blog, and we are just waiting for her to put some of her wonderful new creations on it.  Leave Megan a message telling her how much you are looking forward to seeing her new posts! 

I Love A Rainy Day!!

I've got to admit - I LOVE A RAINY DAY!!   That song (I can't remember who sings it!) is so true for me - You know it makes me feel good! - until I have to go outside in it.  Today I have been inside ALL day, stamping to my heart's content.  I've had such a great day - lots of coffee, and the rain on the roof makes you feel all snug.   LOVE IT!   But now, I've got to go and pick up the boys in this lovely rain, and they won't care if they still have their raincoats packed in their school bags.   Hmm.   So, this is the last of the $2 cards for tonight.  I just had to photograph it in front of the window, with the rain beating down on it.  Mainly because today there's no sunshine to show you all the dirt on the windows!! LOL.    This card is a really simply one, using the beautiful new hostess set "Oh So Lovely".   It's really hard to see in the photo, but I used the rough texture stamp from this set to create a background on the So Saffron Cardstock, and on the strip of Purely Pomegranate Card.   The words used are from Occasional Greetings (which I'm loving too).  Hope you can come along on this lovely rainy night and make some of these with me.  Have a great Monday!  

$2 Cards Tomorrow

Hi there!  Just a reminder that $2 cards are on tomorrow night from 6-10pm.  You can drop in any time, and make as many or few cards as you wish.  Here's one of the cards we are going to be making - it has been cased from Nancy Riley, whose cards I just adore!    Please just give me a call if you are intending to drop by tomorrow.

 

Have a great night.

Michelle

Palette o' Prints Promotion..

Good afternoon everyone.  I'm spending the afternoon unexpectedly at home because I have two boys not feeling very well at all.  Quite nice, having unexpected time to yourself, and the boys are so great when they are sick (I guess they don't learn that "I've got a cold, I'm dying" Man thing until later on...!).  Does mean a bit of reorganising though (sorry Helen).  Anyway, here are the details for the Stampin' Up! May promotion, which is VERY cool.   For every $40 you spend during May, you can purchase a 6x6 pad of double-sided Prints Designer Series Paper for just $14.95.   I have just received my early order pack, and it's just fabulous.  Watch this space for my swap card I'm making today with the paper.  

 

 

This is a one-time offer, and you will receive :

48 double-sided sheets in the following colours

• Certainly Celery
• Rose Red
• So Saffron
• Almost Amethyst

You can see the full details of this promotion HERE.  You can email me to order your pack.

Have a great rainy day!

Michelle

The secret to Inner Peace...

OK Ladies - I've started looking for some self-help advice in order to achieve some balance around here.  Here's the best advice I've found so far - maybe you can make use of it as well... :

Dr. Neil proclaimed the way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you have started. So I looked around my house to see things I started and hadn't finished; and, before leaving the house this morning, I finished off a bottle of Pinot, a bottle of Chardonnay , a botle of Baileys, a butle of Kehuha, a pock of Chit Chat's, tha 'mainder of botl Prozic and Valum prscriptins, the res of the Chesescke, an a bax a cholates.
Yu haf no idr who gud I fel.
*Peas sen dis orn to dem yu fee ar in ned ov inr Pece

Let me know if it works for you too!