As you can see, all I’ve used on these great little cards is 2 pieces of paper. A 9.9cm x 19.8cm piece of cardstock and a piece of Urban Garden DS paper. Because it’s double sided, you can make your cards with a floral theme or flip them over and get a masculine stripe. Ohhhh and the oval scallop punch, I love . . . Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy

I’ve been working on a tutorial to do the knots that you see here – which I will post over the weekend – they are really very easy and so very simple (hello! I can do it, it must be simple!)

Till next time,

Michelle

I saw this post at Yvonne’s Campbell’s site and laughed (quick go have a look, I’ll wait), then I looked at my own little note book full of ‘wish list’ notes and my new SU catalogue and thought “Hey, that’s not soooo bad..” I’ve got this whole ‘addiction’ under control – I don’t have to have everything . . See?  There’s only a few tags there….

Then I realised that I had tagged just the pages that had something that I wanted, not each individual item (well, more often than not I want everything on the page anyway) and I then tagged the whole chapter with the new printed papers , the glitters, the sticky cuts, well, yes all of the new accessories (it was easier that way as I’d run out of post it notes by then..)  Sheesh, I sound like Veruca Salt don’t I?  So would you if you had the new catalogue!

Soooooo, how long is your wish list?

Michelle

Hello new SU! catalogue (I KNOW I love it) and goobye to some much loved favourites.  When I decide which ones I can bear to part with, I will have a list of stamps up that have now retired that I will have available for sale.  But in the meantime, I have been playing with some new sets – -How exciting! I’m trying to post some pictures, >> here << but once again, Photobucket isn’t playing nice.. so maybe tomorrow.

A big “Hello” out there also to another Michelle Frost – she’s searching the world for other Michelle Frosts out there. Here ’searching’ post is here.  She’s even found a Michelle Frost that has completed the London Marathon on stilts! It seems there is nothing that we can’t do!  why don’t you google your name and see who you come up with?

Crop for Kids is on again this weekend – There’s a group of us that have a table ~ we’ll be the noisy ones.  Please come and say hi!

Take care & until next time,

Michelle

Just a slightly different Christmas Carol.  I haven’t got the traditional tree up yet, so the Tahitian Lime had to act as the Festive tree on this gorgeous sunny day.  Didn’t she do a fine job? (Yes, it’s a she and she has a name ~ ‘Maddy’, surely you name your beloved plants?)

How gorgeous are these?  The template was in (I think) Cardmaking and Papercraft magazine.  I apologise, I can’t remember if it’s a recent one or one from some Christmases ago.  I tend to have a backlog of magazines lying around to help me out when inspiration goes MIA.  I have conveniently made templates and not kept a record of when/where I got them.  A lot of magazines have Christmas-y shapes popping up, so I am sure you will be able to find something very close by!  All you need to do is photocopy the shape & then reduce it a little bit for the ‘insert’ piece of co-ordinating paper.  If you’ve got a keen eye you can probably cut it free-hand.  I’ve used Stampin’ Up Real Red card stock and “Dashing” double sided scrapping paper for the centre sections. Easy-peasy!

More stuff for show and tell really soon – I’ve been busy!

Michelle

A big shout (up to NSW) to wish my upline, Jayne, a very happy birthday.  A few of the INKlings (our team) have got together to throw a virtual birthday party for her & I’ve brought along some cupcakes ~ there’s plenty to share and perhaps a spare to take home and have later with a cuppa!

Check out what the others have brought along ~

Margaret – Joanna – Kari – Teneale – Merryl -  Susanne - Kim - Carol - Beth - Alana - Lin Mei - Karen

I hope you have had a great day Jayne!

I have just realised that this post has been sitting in ‘drafts’ for over a week! Whoops!  Oh well, it’s a birthday festival…  Happy Birthday Jayne, Thanks for all your support and leadership!

Michelle

I haven’t posted anything new  for a little while as I have been busy creating something else ~ a website! It’s brand-spanking new and you can find it at http://www.stampinground.com.au/ .  Please drop by and have a look.  The website will have more of a Stampin’ Up! focus with loads of ideas, special offers, projects with this blog will eventually be scaled back to a more ‘personal’ blog (ie; will have more waffle!).  The site is still pretty new and I am still building, tweaking (see: learning) and adding to it each day.  It will be updated frequently, so make sure you check back regularly!  My latest creation (filed under “I just like to make stuff”) is a little album using the Stampin’ Up! “Outlaw” papers.

Thanks for visiting my blog and I hope to see you over at my site!

Have you been looking at the gorgeous Designer Series printed papers in the new catalogue?  Go on, check out pages 134- 136 for all the yummy papers.  Here is the list of the co-ordinating colours that go with them.  Got a pen? Write them down now!

 Berry Bliss: Purely Pomegranate, Pretty in Pink, Close to Cocoa
Brocade Backgrounds: Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, River Rock
Dashing: Old Olive, Real Red, River Rock, Very Vanilla
East Coast Prep:Real Red, Wild Wasabi, Tempting Turquoise, More Mustard
Fall Flowers: Old Olive, Really Rust, Soft Sky, Sahara Sand
Jersey Shore:Wild Wasabi, Pumpkin Pie, Brilliant Blue, Bashful Blue
Le Jardin: River Rock, So Saffron, Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke, Bashful Blue
Notebook: Soft Sky, Kraft, Very Vanilla
Outlaw: Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Really Rust, Sage Shadow, Very Vanilla
Petals & Paisleys: Certainly Celery, Rose Red, Old Olive, Pretty in Pink, Soft Sky, So Saffron, Taken with Teal
Spring Break: Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Blue Bayou, Soft Sky
Spring Fling: Certainly Celery, Sage Shadow, Pretty in Pink, So Saffron
Spring Silhouettes:Wild Wasabi, Certainly Celery, Soft Sky, Very Vanilla
Wintergreen: Always Artichoke, Certainly Celery, Sage Shadow, Soft Sky

Mum & I made some great little books on the weekend that I want to share with you once I get the camera working.  They are a great way to use your gorgeous papers and make a nifty little brag book to pop into your handbag.  Stay tuned!

….Well not quite.  I went to Sydney to see the ‘Diana – A Celebration’ exhibition with mum last Saturday.  It was a wonderful celebration of her life, her work, her fashion, her legacy and of course her funeral (*sob*).  It was quite a collection! THE wedding dress was there and, I must say, I didn’t like it all those years ago but seeing in in the flesh (or is that, in the fabric?) I have fallen in love with the dress, the gorgeous parasol (in case it rained) and the silk-covered shoes with the hand-painted gilt soles. There was a tiara room (*sparkle*) and various showcases with the jewels of the Spencer women (more *sparkle*)

It was an early start to get to the airport, but we were there in good time, very good time! (No chance of missing out if you’re there before check-in actually opens! ) I can recommend the breakfast at Avalon Airport if you’re there before the rush!

Here’s mum getting ready to go into the exhibition – just a little bit excited!

 After the exhibition we went and had high tea – loads of samples of lovely little bites to eat.  Scones, toasted bagel, lamingtons, gorgeous organic tea (for mum) and coffee (for me).  It was such a lovely day out and made extra special by being able to spend some time with mum.

Mum & I – ready for our early departure

So, no stamping this weekend, but I am all inspired and think that I need to get a ‘Princess’ stamp set now! 

…. No it’s not a yellow polka-dot bikni! I have done some very simple ATC’s (Artist Trading Cards) for a swap with other members of the Inklings (other SU! demonstrators around Australia).  This months theme is Embossing.  Here’s my contribution. If you look really closely, you can see that the large purple flower has a bit of a sheen and has been clear embossed and the ant has been embossed using black embossing powder. I LOVE embossing – it can really lift images off the page!

 Here’s a close up of the cutest ant in history ~  He’s from the ‘Bug and Kisses’ stamp set. 

If you would like to try embossing at a workshop with some friends, contact me and we can organise a time to have some fun!

This is the second time now that I have been tagged, the first time by Jayne and now by Yvonne.  So I suppose I better find 7 random things to tell you about myself that you may or may not know (if you don’t know already, you probably don’t want to!)

So here are my 7 factoids ~

1. My second favourite colour is Orange

2. I have broken both my arms (the first time I learnt that you can’t do a 360 degree spin in a hammock & the second time I learnt that fairy lights can be dangerous)

3. I have a passion for Egypt & Egytpology.  I have been lucky enough to visit twice, and would like to go back again (and again and again).

4. I have been an enthusiastic David Bowie fan since I was about 13. I was lucky enough to be able to see both concerts when he was last in Melbourne (and why wouldn’t you?) in 2005.  I figured that I had waited since 1987 to see him again so seeing him 2 nights running wasn’t excessive!

5. I learnt to speak Greek and Japanese at school.  I thought that they would come in handy one day, but it hasn’t yet and all I can do now is count to 3 in Japanese, order an orange juice and answer the odd crossword question about the greek alphabet!

6. My last car was a 1962 Morris Major Elite.  It was 2-tone green until I got to it with some paint and sunflower stencils.  It certainly was easy to find in a car park! Now I would like a rally car so that I could go really off-road.

7. I’m married to “Big Bob“, who I met and married while I was living in the UK.  (He was the only thing I could legally bring through customs without being charged duty for it).

Now for 7 others that I need to tag that I can’t wait to find out ALL SORTS of things about ~ I think that I shall have to tag some of my partners in crime from Paperific first – Tracey  - Jenni - Claire - Fleur - and 3 more Marelle, Carol (with the gorgeous purple blog!) & finally, my generous “Secret Santa”, the Lovely Leonie.  The tagging “rules” are:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

The main thing is to have fun!