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I hope you’re ready for the ESAD New Stampin’ Up! Catalogue Blog Hop! This could take a while as there are 25 blogs to check out so grab yourself a tea or coffee and sit back and enjoy the ride.

What is ESAD?

 ESAD stands for Extra Special Australasian Demonstrators and it is an online group just for Australian and New Zealand Demonstrators for Stampin’ Up!

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 its needed.

So if you are a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator located in Australia or New Zealand then please feel free to click here to join our wonderful group.

Now just to put the cherry on the top so to speak, we are offering Blog Candy on this blog hop.

To qualify ….

* this is only open to customers (ie. demonstrators do not qualify)

* to qualify you must visit every blog and leave a comment on each one

* once you have commented on each blog you need to email Leonie Shroder at leonie@stamp-a-latte.com  and advise her you have done so

* Blog Candy winners will be announced on Tuesday 

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You will have arrived here from the wonderful Kim Conway’s blog, what fabulous projects.

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What I have to show you today are a couple of cards, a tag and a little tissue box using the fantastic new Newsprint Designer Series Paper (now available in the fantastic new Stampin’ Up! Idea Book and Catalogue). This paper has only two colours Basic Black and Very Vanilla and is great for the vintage look with a little tearing and distressing. I have also used the gorgeous new Artistic Etchings stamp set – yummy!

I love these tissue boxes, they are great as hostess gifts and very easy to make.  I have stamped the crown in Riding Hood red as a contrast.

For these cards I have created the backgrounds using a technique called double embossing. This is a great technique and very easy but it gives such fantastic results. Cut a piece of the Newsprint Designer Series Paper to size for the front of your card. Then take your Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder (also available in the fantastic new Stampin’ Up! Idea Book and Catalogue) and run over the inside top of the folder with your brayer and Versamark ink. Place your paper in the embossing folder and run through your Big Shot (see the fantastic new Stampin’ Up! Idea Book and Catalogue). Open up your folder, carefully remove your paper and sprinkle with block embossing powder over the Versamark. Heat with your heat gun to melt the powder and voila!

For this card I have used the new Scallop Trim Border punch and the Two-Step Bird punch. I have finished off with a sentiment from the Vintage Vogue stamp set and some Very Vanilla Taffeta ribbon.

This card uses the same background as before but this time I have stamped the Eiffel Tower image from the Artistic Etchings stamp set and layered it on a panel which has been edged using the Scallop Trim Border punch and matching Scallop Trim Corner punch.

And finally I have a tag for you using all the ideas I used before.

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I hope you enjoyed these projects. You are now on your way to Pauline Bennett’s blog – have fun!  Don’t forget to leave me a comment and let Leonie know when you have commented on everyone’s blog – you don’t want to miss out on Blog Candy!

Come back soon.

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If you have got lost or have missed a link, here is the complete list of blogs participating in this hop.

1. Leonie Schroder – http://www.stamp-a-latte.com
2. Keryn Campbell – http://kerynscards.blogspot.com
3. Vicki Were – http://www.stampinvickistyle.blogspot.com/
4. Aly Adcock – http://www.inkyaly.blogspot.com
5. Juliette Chapman – http://juleskraftikrafts.blogspot.com
6. Kristine Thompson – http://www.inkspotcreations.typepad.com
7. Jo Weedon – http://www.scrapandstampin.blogspot.com
8. Jan McAnulty – http://cardcaperswithjan.wordpress.com/
9. Karen Southwell http://www.kareniescrafts.blogspot.com
10. Kim Conway – http://www.kimconwaycards.blogspot.com
11. Jane Norrish – http://janenorrish.com
12. Pauline Bennetts – http://www.paulinebennetts.com/stampede
13. Gemma Coumbe – http://www.gemmacoumbe.blogspot.com
14. Genelle Little – http://www.stampedecards.blogspot.com
15. Sharlene Meyer – http://www.magpiecreates.com
16. Susan Joyce – http://www.catsinkcorporated.blogspot.com
17. Rhonda Statham – http://rhondastatham.typepad.com/
18.  Monique Fielder - http://stamping-with-moni-q.blogspot.com/
19.  Andrea Buckland - http://creatingcardswithandrea.blogspot.com/
20.  Bev Watt –  http://stampinovation.blogspot.com
21.  Lisa Ryder - sorry not this time
22.  Claire Mcilhatton http://www.crafty-cow.com/
23.  Mae Collins -  http://maecollins.blogspot.com/
24.  Charmaine Black – http://www.l-ink-edtopaper.blogspot.com/
25.  Lynn Powell – http://www.lynnpowell.com.au

Check back here on Wednesday 1st September to hitch a ride on the ESAD (Extra Special Australian Demonstrator’s) blog hop. There will be some fantastic projects from demonstrators all over Australia and New Zealand so be sure to check back – you don’t want to miss out.

Following the huge success of our charity fundraiser day last year in aid of the Motor Neurone Disease Assoc. of Queensland I am holding another!

Please join me on 11th September for a fun day of stamping, laughter, games, prizes and much, much more. There are some fantastic raffle prizes donated by Stampin Up! so bring along some extra cash for the winning tickets.

The venue is again the Burleigh Town Tavern who are also supporting our cause. All the details are in the flyer below,  just click on it for a printable version.

Hope you can join me, look forward to hearing from you.

A few months ago a few Gold Coast Demonstrators and myself decided that we would get together to share ideas and socialise. We have now had three meetings and I have met some lovely ladies who are as addicted as I am to Stampin’ Up!.

The last two meetings we have also held a shoebox swap. For those of you who aren’t sure what this is, you design a card and make a sample and then make up kits for that card. Then you put the kit and all the products you used to make that card into a shoebox with an instruction sheet so that everyone can make it.

The first one we had was shortly after the new Mini Catalogue had come out and we used that as our theme. This time we decided that with Father’s Day not too far away we would make male cards.

I am so challenged when it comes to male cards but I had this idea in the back of my mind and this is what it ended up like.

The top note die is cut from the box that the Stampin’ Up! deliveries come in and the star is punched from layers of the brown packaging paper then sponged around the edges. The sentiment is from Greetings Eight.

This is another one I made almost the same but using the scallop circle punch with the packaging paper to make a beautiful flower and using the sentiment from the Level 2 Hostess Set Echoes of Kindness.

This is going to be a long post so make sure you are comfortable before we start.

Well what a fabulous weekend we all had. Stampin’ Up! sure know how to spoil a girl. Convention this year was in Sydney at Darling Harbour, what a spectacular venue. We flew down on Thursday and began bumping into other demonstrators at the airport. After checking in to our hotel we had a great catch up and swap with the lovely Kim Gavarra and her team of demonstrators, thanks Kim I had a ball. After heading to the harbour for a great steak dinner it was a reasonably early night for us so as to be up bright and early for check in at 7.00am.

BUT!!!! This was not to be - at half past midnight the fire alarm in our builidng went off and we all had to troop downstairs in our pj’s to stand on the street for an hour to be told there was an electrical fault in the alarm system. So back to bed we went – for a little while…….

At 3.00am guess what – that alarm went off again – NOT HAPPY JANE!!!!! So back down to the street we traipsed only to be told after an hour of standing around in the cold again that it was THE SAME ELECTRICAL FAULT!!

Back to bed, it was 4.30 by this stage and we were suppose to be getting up at 6, we did manage to stagger out of bed by 7 and there were a lot of bleary eyes at convention that day.

But it was all worth it. By the time we got there and picked up our convention bags with 2 brand new, not yet released stamp sets inside, it was time to get swapping. I managed to swap 70 cards in under an hour, that’s a record for me, and I got some beautiful swaps back.

This is a picture of my lovely roomies Jean and Leigh, a little bleary eyed but enjoying it all none the less.

Jean and Leigh

This is a quick picture of Shelli Gardner one of the co-founders of Stampin’ Up! demonstrating her fabulous “vintage” style.

Shelli Gardner

Shelli is such a lovely person with a wicked sense of humour and a beautiful smile, she is very charming and very talented.

One highlight of convention for me was meeting my ESAD Secret Sister who has been spoiling me totally these past two months and whose final gift just blew me away. Felicity Fernandez was my secret sister and I am just so lucky to have had her sending me such treasures these past weeks.

Felicity and Me

The second day of convention we had some make and takes using our new stamp sets and some hilarious workshops with the fantastic staff from Stampin’ Up! US, Pam Morgan and Bonnie Thurber, thanks ladies.

That evening it was time to put on our glad rags and head back to the convention centre for the presentation dinner. Here is a picture of our table with Judy, Me, Leigh and Jean.

I was lucky to receive an award for sales and received another fabulous new stamp set, can you tell I was pleased.

I also received a fabulous quilted patchwork bag and lots of goodies from my gorgeous upline Venessa.

Venessa & Me

And managed to catch up wioth and get a picture with my lovely friend Petronela who I’m sure isn’t that much taller than me and must have been wearing very high heels!

Petronela & Me

And suddenly it was all over and it was time to try and pack eveything into your suitcase (which was never going to fit) and work out how much you could reasonably carry on as hand luggage.

I had a fantastic time and would love to thank everyone Imet who made it even more special, there were a few people I didn’t get to catch up with that I wanted to meet but there’s always next year.

I can’t wait to do it all over again in Melbourne (have already booked the hotel). If you would like to be a part of all this fun and join us in Melbourne next year, contact me and I can help you become a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator, the one thing in my life I will never regret.

I feel like a bit of a cheat getting this award as I have only recently started updating my blog on a more regular basis, but I would like to thank the lovely Petronela Hardy for nominating me.

I am supposed to tell you 10 things about myself that you probably wouldn’t already know and then pass the award on to some more deserving bloggers.

So what can I tell you………………

1. I was born in England, lived in South Africa for 5 years before coming to Australia and I am now a proud Australian.

2. I was a computer programmer for many years but I now work as a bookkeeper.

3. While I was progamming in England (for Access credit card company – now Mastercard) I was also a British Tourist Trophy track girl (similar to V8 racing here) but that was many years and many kilos ago. We had to wander through the crowd trying to get them to sign up for credit cards. Unfortunately the John Player girls who wore much skimpier outfits and were giving away free cigarettes got a much better reception.

4. I used to own horses and compete in 3 day events. I once rode against Princess Anne in a Novice Event. She beat me of course but did congratulate me afterwards. 

5. I started stamping seriously in 2004 after I crushed the end of my finger in a print press and couldn’t do calligraphy any more.

6. Over the years I have tried many crafts, knitting, cross stitch, leadlight papermaking, marbling, bookbinding, calligraphy – you name it.

7. This is my second marriage and I will have been married to Richard for 25 years this August.

8. We have one son Blake who is studying to be a dentist and who also works at the local Apple Computer store and spends his whole time trying to win me over to the “dark side”.

9. I also have a delightful fur baby Jingle or Cobalt Jingle Bell Rock to give her her full title, she is a blue roan cocker spaniel and a total princess. She has us all totally under her spell.

10. I love TV programs about dead people (how creepy is that). Midsomer Murders, CSI, Bones, NCIS anything that has a dead body in it really.

So now I have to pass this on to some more very deserving bloggers.

Jean McKenzie – my stamping buddy from way back

Leigh Stoodley - who does the best bows this side of the black stump

Trish Myers- my Brissie friend who makes the most beautiful elegant projects

Kim Gavarra - meet Kim at the Stamping & Scrapbooking convention in Brisbane, June long weekend

Chrissie Allen - Chrissie will be with Kim at the Stamping & Scrapbooking convention

The current Just Add Ink challenge is Just Add Vintage and I have a little easel card here that just fits the bill.

I love these colours together (Kraft, Not Quite Navy and Very Vanilla) and think they give a soft vintagey feel to this card. I have used Bella Bleu DSP and Sahara Sand and Not Quite Navy inks with the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set.

Good Morning everyone!

I hope you’re ready for my second ESAD Blog Hop!

Better go and grab yourself a coffee as you’ll be hopping for a while! What is ESAD you say? ESAD stands for Extra Special Australian (and New Zealand) Demonstrators and it is an online group just for Australian and New Zealand demonstrators for Stampin’ Up!

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 its needed. So if you are a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator located in Australia or New Zealand then please feel free to click here to join our wonderful group.

We are again offering Blog Candy for our Blog Hop. What you need to do is complete the blog hop until you get back to me. Once you’ve visited and commented on every blog then you will need to email Sharlene at stampwithsharlene@hotmail.com who will then put your name into the draw for the blog candy. There will be one winner from New Zealand and one winner from Australia. So you have hopefully arrived here from Melissa Barkwith’s blog, or if this is your first stop then just follow the links from blog to blog. There is a list of all the blogs at the bottom of this post if you get lost.

I have used my Big Shot to cut out all of my cards today and I just love it, it makes it all so easy.

So what is a Big Shot? This is a really versatile die cutting and embossing machine. It is bigger and wider than the Cuttlebug which gives you a wider range of available dies, but it is not much heavier. If you would like more information on this little baby or would like to see a demonstration please contact me at janenorrish@optusnet.com.au.

So on to my projects. My Mum passed away a few years ago but I do have several other ladies in my life that I give Mother’s Day cards to. Friends whose children are overseas and friends with only “fur babies” all appreciate a card. 

My first project is a card using Soft Suede cardstock and the Movers and Shakers die. This die is fabulous! It cuts out your card and also has a little moveable magnetic die which cuts a little window wherever you want to place it. This window matches our Curly Label punch which is what I have used to punch the sentiment. I have also used the Autumn Days stamp set and Soft Suede polka dot ribbon.

For the second card I have used Ruby Red cardstock and instead of cutting just one window in the front of the card, I moved the little magnetic die and cut a second window overlapping. I then ran the front of the card throught the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.

For the third card I have cut just half the window out and folded the front of the card back on itself. I have used More Mustard cardstock, the Autumn Days stamp set again and the Autumn Traditions Designer Series Paper.

And lastly I have used the same Movers and Shakers die to cut out this little box which holds 2 Lindt chocolates just perfectly…lol. I have used Elegant Eggplant cardstock and Whisper White taffeta ribbon. The instructions for this box by Jackie Topa can be found here. 

Please don’t forget to leave a comment and then let Sharlene know when you have commented on all the blogs, you don’t want to miss out on “blog candy”. (Sorry! – Stampin’ Up! demonstrators do not qualify for blog candy) You are now off on your way to Susan Joyce’s blog, have fun.

List of Blogs to Hop

Jane Norrish 

Susan Joyce

Keryn Campbell

Gardenia Pepworth

Angela Purdie

Lisa Jansen 

Nicki Turner

Angie Brown

Andrea Buckland 

Ros Davidson 

Juliette Chapman

Steph Pike 

Debbie Williams 

Nikki Sadler 

Melissa Barkwith 

I am excited to be able to tell you about a whole new world of colour in Stampin’ Up!’s Colour Renovation.

For over two years, Stampin’ Up! have done extensive research including investigating colour trends in the fashion, home décor, and crafting industries, and have conducted focus groups involving demonstrators, customers, and Stampin’ Up! experts. They have found that it was time to update the colours so that you have a fresh, on-trend colour palette to work with! 

Retiring Colours

As with any renovation, there has to be changes and this does mean we will be saying goodbye to a few old friends. If you find you can’t bear to be without any of these colours just contact me to stock up on ink pads, cardstock, ink refills, markers and ribbons.

The New Colour Palette.

But the excitment of new colours should make up for any disappointment. The new colour palette is organised into four collections: Subtles, Brights, Regals, and Neutrals. You will see 25 of our current colours remaining, and ten past In Colours returning as core colours, and the addition of five new core colours. Check the colour charts to see what the new collections look like.

New In Colour Programme

One part of our Colour Renovation that we’re sure you’re going to love is the new In Colour programme! Each year we will introduce five new In Colours, and they will remain for two years. This means that the 2010-2011 In Colours will be introduced this year, but will not be retired until the 2012-2013 colours are introduced. This year there will be only be five In Colours, but after that, we will always have ten (the previous year’s plus the new). Look for a later announcement on this year’s In Colours.

If you would like to download and print these charts out for yourself just click on the images above or the ones on my sidebar to the right. If you have any questions please drop me an email. janenorrish@optusnet.com.au

Those of you that I have seen in the last couple of weeks would have already received a copy of the fabulous new Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue from Stampin’ Up! I have also mailed out copies to my regular customers.

However if you haven’t received yours and would like one just email me at janenorrish@optusnet.com.au with your address and I’ll pop one in the mail for you. If you just can’t wait that long, click on the above image and you can view it right here.

In the meantime how about I give you a look see at the wonderful goodies available.

The Big Shot is a wonderfully versatile die cutting machine that can cut through over 50 different materials. It’s a universal die cutting machine, which means it can cut dies from many other manual die cutting systems. There is also a fabulous selection of dies in this catalogue, many of them exclusive to Stampin’ Up!

More exciting news, you now have a choice between wood mounted and clear mounted stamp sets.  Stampin’ Up! have used exactly the same rubber as on the wood mounted stamps, so you still get the same great image quality, but it’s mounted to cling foam which will stick to clear acrylic blocks.

Each set comes with it’s own labelled DVD cover which is great for storage and Stampin’ Up! unmounted stamps still have a sticky label image of the stamp that you can attach to the cling foam, which makes stamp positioning a breeze!

The new acrylic blocks, which are also in this wonderful new catalogue, come in 9 different sizes and are beautiful to hold with their wonderfully smooth grooved sides. 

Please note – this does not mean we are getting rid of the wood mounted stamps, just adding another great option for you.

And last but not least, the new Stampin’ Up punches will now be available in a slim line design which can lock into place for ease of storage.

They come in 3 great sizes and each punch has an image on the side and on the end so that you can see which punch you are grabbing no matter how you store them.