Thursday, May 24, 2007

65 Roses Day

Today is also 65 Roses Day - the national awareness day for Cystic Fibrosis. Gab's son Conor has CF. I knew very little about it until I met Gab, Anthony and Conor. Seeing them live with CF everyday, with doing physiotherapy, taking medications and doing breathing exercises has made me more aware and hopeful that a cure will be discovered in Conor's lifetime....if not sooner! There have been medical advances over the years but more research is needed and its time help! My son Christopher doesn't really understand what CF is, but he's never too late in reminding Conor to take the tablets he needs after every meal to help Conor grow and stay healthy.
I hope today that you'll stop and buy a sausage from the LJ Hooker sausage sizzles that are set up around Canberra, which are raising funds for CF research. You can also visit their website anytime to make donation : 65 Roses Day 2007 .

Happy 40th Birthday Gab!!!

Happy Birthday my friend! Hope you have a really special day with Anthony and Conor!
For those of you who haven't met Gab, she is a dear friend of mine who I met while living in Hong Kong. Our passion for scrapbooking lead us to start a little business in Discovery Bay, HK, where we could supply products and teach classes to the scrapbookers in our community. In 2005 Gab moved to Canberra, where her family is from, and I moved back to Canberra early 2006, where my family lives as well. It made moving back here so much easier knowing that I already had a good friend to connect with. Our sons play really well together too. Gab's son Conor is 4 years old and my son Christopher is 8, but the age difference doesn't bother them.
Gab and I spent the day yesterday watching Pirates of the Caribbean 1 & 2, in preparation for going to see Pirates 3 tonight!! Yes... Pirate fever has hit in full force......we've been counting down the days to May 25th....for the movie as well as for Gab's big birthday!

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea

If you need something to do or somewhere to go this weekend, please go and visit Ainslee at Scrap Junkie as she is hosting an "Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea" this Sunday 27 May. You'll find lots of inspiration and tons of beautiful products in her shop, and this Sunday there will be door prizes, raffles, & donation giveaways. There is a Stampin Up! Simply Sent card kit to be won as well as other fun things. Ainslee is hoping to raise $1000 for the Cancer Council ACT, so your support of this cause would be greatly appreciated. Check out the Scrap Junkie blog for more details about the day. Hope to see you there!!!

A Very Late May Newsletter

I'm sorry that time has gotten away from me and I'm only now sending out my "beginning of the month newsletter" toward the end of May! There has been so much excitement with the new catalogue, and I've been busy with workshops and playing with my own new stamps, colour combinations (check out this link for lots of new colour combinations using the existing colour families and the new "In Colour" colours), and some new tools, preparing all kinds of fresh new cards to demonstrate in my workshops.

As some of you know, Stampin Up! usually has a special promotion each month. There wasn't one in April as it was the 2007-2008 Catalogue's first month out. This months promotion is a FANTASTIC deal, but let me ask you a few questions first: Do you like stamping and stamping with others? Do you enjoy meeting people and making new friends? Would you like to buy your stamps and accessories with a 20% discount? If you said yes to those questions, then you might like to think about becoming a Stampin Up! Demonstrator yourself. This month you can join up and receive $585 worth of Stampin Up! products for only $299! What a deal! As you know, I moved back here to Canberra last year, after living overseas for the past 15 years, with only knowing a handful of people here. I had a love for stamping and was very keen to meet people who would also enjoy this rewarding hobby. So it all started with just 1 workshop (thanks so much Gab!) and now after one year I'm SO happy to be able to call many of you my friends. Being a demonstrator also allows me to be a stay at home mum to my son as well as paying less for my own stamps (thus my cupboards are now overflowing and my colour caddy is almost full of inks!!). Please feel free to contact me if you'd like more information about this promotion and remember it ends on May 31st!

Looking ahead in June: I'll be hosting my own workshop to show you how to use some of the fun "toys" that are in this new catalogue, such as the colour spritzer, the chipboard and those gorgeous stampin' ink spots. Of course there will be a card that you'll be able to make using these new products. The date is Saturday June 23rd, 7:30pm. Please call or email me if you'd like to come along!

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Some Cards

I'm been playing with some of my new stamps and LOVING the results. Thought I'd share a few with you: The first one is using the Paisley Background stamp. I stamped it using a few different inks in the soft subtle family, punched out some squares and put it back together (not matching on purpose). I love the detail in this stamp. I also stamped it straight onto Perfect Plum cardstock with Perfect Plum ink for a more subtle effect. If you click on the photo, you'll see more detail. I made 14 of these as I used it in a swap with other demonstrators around Australia.

This second card is using the Watercolour Minis and a canvas background. I love the dimension you can create with stamps that are the "2 Step" design. I stamp a much lighter colour first (in this case its Pretty-n-Pink), then stamp a darker shade (Rose Red) over top. The leaves are Certainly Celery as my lighter colour, then Always Artichoke as the darker. Again, if you click on the photo, then you'll see it bigger.


This last card I tried doing a cracked glass technique. I aged and stamped the images first, then heat embossed many layers of clear embossing powder over top. Put it in the freezer for a few minutes, took it out and cracked it up, rubbed ink into the cracks which gives it the antique look. I probably could have done a few more layers of embossing, but this is a good example of what it looks like.

A Mum's Moment

I've got to admit that sometimes being a single mother is rather overwhelming. I know I made the right decision in choosing this path for my life, but nevertheless, I can sometimes feel quite small for the big shoes I must wear!

The other day while rushing around packing up the homework, cleaning up after dinner and getting Christopher ready for bed...I found this message on the edge of the bathtub. It brought me to a stop, tears came to my eyes and I could do nothing else except feel SOOOOO grateful for gift that Christopher is to me. I'm such a lucky mum!
Mother's Day is this weekend....Happy Mother's Day to all the mums I know out there! Hope you have a lovely day with your families and that your kids will surprise you with something from their hearts.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

One Morning in Canberra



I got up at the crack of dawn a couple weeks ago and went out with a friend (hi Steph!) and our cameras. It was only 2 degrees outside and still dark....and yes we both thought we were MAD giving up precious warmth and sleep to go out and see what we could capture at that time of day. The above photos show only a glimpse of how lovely it was that morning. With Christopher away in New Zealand visiting family with his dad, I was free to have the rest of the day to myself....and since I started the day waaaaaaaaaay too early...it was heaven being able to crawl back into bed and wake up at lunchtime. I don't think I've done that since I was a teenager!