adelisa designs

Sale-A-Bration!!!!

2012-01-24T10:01:00.000+10:00

Its HERE!!!!! The most exciting time of the year - its SALE-A-BRATION!!!!!!!!!

Same deal as always - SPEND $100 and you get to choose a free product from the Sale-A-Bration Catalogue.

HOST your own Stampin' Up! get-together and you can earn your very Sale-A-Bration set for free as well!!!

Or - JOIN!!!! Stampin' Up! are offering our starter kit for the reduced price of $249 and you also get a free Sale-A-Bration Stamp Set!!!!! This kit contains everything you need to get your stamping adventure started, and at that price, with free product, why wouldn't you! :)

There are some beauties in there this year - the paper is my absolute favourite (!!!!!) and I am hoping hoping hoping to be able to earn a few packets of this.

Just remember, these products are only available during Sale-A-Bration - they will never be seen again, so if you like them, contact me with your $100 order/Party date/joining date and let me know what you'd like for free!

And as always, hostess rules apply as well - SO - if you get together a $300 order you would get 3 free Sale-A-Bration products plus your $50 hostess voucher to purchase any Stamping products of your choice, including exclusive Hostess stamp sets. AWESOME hey!!!

You can email me at adlewiess@yahoo.com.au with your order, or any questions you might have.

Hope to hear from you soon!!! :) :)

Smiles

Adele xxx

Last But Not Least!

2012-01-18T20:06:00.000+10:00

So i have one final Christmas card to share with you - almost a month after the fact! :)

I really love the 'Dasher' stamp - and I've combined some of the elements from my other Christmas cards to create this one (ie. vellum and the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder). And of course the yummy Glass Glitter - don't you just love it!

And one last close up of 'Dasher'. I've stamped him once in Crumb Cake and then again in Soft Suede slightly off centre onto a circular piece of Vellum and then stuck that over a cirlce of Whisper White that's been run over with the Musical Notes Standard Wheel. Once that was adhered together I've drawn a line of glue (with the 2-Way Glue Pen) around the outside and dipped it in the Glass Glitter.

Its very hard to see in the photo's but I have used the snowflake images from Snow Swirled on the back panel in Whisper White - just a nice subtle touch.

Thanks for stopping by, come again soon!!!! School starts next week so hopefully some craft time will present itself more regularly once the little munchkins are away!!!! :)

Smiles

Adele xxx

Happy New Year!

2012-01-13T15:53:00.000+10:00

Happy New Year friends!!!!!!! I can't believe how quickly the Christmas holidays have come and gone - only one more week and the kids are back at school! We have son no.2 starting prep this year - he's much shy-er than his older brother and not so excited about this new stage in his life, so we'll have to see how he goes? :)

I thought I'd finally get around to posting the last few Christmas cards I made for our friends this year - I fell IN LOVE with the Smashed Glass Glitter - so so pretty and even though it does make a bit of a mess, its much easier to clean up then the fine glitter! :)

All fairly self explanatory - I have absolutley LOVED Always Artichoke and Cherry Cobbler this year - makes for a great tradtional christmas card. I took inspiration for these cards from Tina White who presented at November's Brisbane Regionals - I LOVED her card and have cased the feature panel from it...

And a close up shot of that yummy yummy cherry cobbler embossing powder! How scrumptious is it!

And on a Crumb Cake background. I've used the Music Notes Wheel on the background of both card bases.

And of course the Seam Binding Ribbon. This stuff is so simple and easy to use - I LOVE it!.

Inside each card we also included a photo of our family with this lovely quote written across the top -

"From home to home, from heart to heart, from one place to another, the warmth and joy of Christmas brings us closer to each other."

I have one more Christmas card to show you in the next couple of days and then hopefully I'll be back in routine and have more fun craft to share with you.

See you again soon!!! :)

Smiles

Adele xxx

Matching Card - Of Course

2011-12-06T15:56:00.001+10:00

Well, I had to make matching cards for my Christmas gifts (look here) didn't I.

I can't (or at least I HATE to) give a card that doesn't match the gift.

Especially if its a home made gift.

So here are the cards I made to go with my Embellishment Folders...

Very simple I know - I had about 30 minutes to make 3 cards and I was starting from scratch with no ideas other than the colour scheme (ie. it had to match the gifts).

I remembered a card from Kirsty Brown's blog (AGAIN) and took my inspiration from there...

I love the Blushing Bride and Crumb Cake together, and absolutely LOVE those snowflakes - I use them every year! (from Snow Swirled).

I have also used the new Embossing Folders 'Designer Frames' - LOVE - these are gorgeous. Though I am finding when I use mine they leave a ridge on my card stock that I'm not liking - I'm trying to figure out a way to eliminate this...

As I said, very simple and very quick. I am thinking I might make these as my Christmas Cards this year, so I might have another play and see if I can step them up at all - you know, a cards not a card unless its taken hours to create - hehehehhe. Only joking. I think this ones pretty effective in its simplicity.

Its those snowflakes.

Those snowflakes make me happy! :) :) :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Smiles

Adele xxx

Christmas Specials!!!

2011-12-05T14:59:00.000+10:00

Wow - you will never believe it, but Stampin' Up! have just put out a list of stamps and accessories that are up to 50% off!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

You can link to the list here and let me know if there's anything I can get you - the perfect time to buy a gift for that creative person in your life, or just simply stock up your supplies.

You can contact me on adlewiess@yahoo.com.au if I can help you in any way!

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Smiles

Adele xxx

Presents!!!!!!

2011-12-05T10:26:00.000+10:00

'Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas!'

I am so excited this year. Normally Christmas isn't something I'm that into - but this year I haven't been able to wait.

So it was so exciting that my sister and her family were able to travel up from NSW so we could celebrate Christmas together as a family - 11 kids and 8 adults in my parents house - it was awesome!!!!

I decided a little earlier in the week to 'make' some gifts for my sisters (Kylie, Estelle and Lisa) adn procrastinated till the day before (why oh why do I do this to myself???) and made these little folders.

I saw the original idea for these gorgeous things on Amy's Blog in a 2009 post (can't find it now for the life of me??) and thought they would be perfect!

Aliessa also made one of these - here is her version...just scroll down to the bottom of the post...

Amy did have a template for it which she was lovely enough to share - go to http://www.papertreyink.com/mtt_recipewrapup_webview.html to find it...

For mine, I actually just scored 2 pieces of A4 cardstock at 8cm then again at 9cm twice, and trimmed the end a little so that I had an overlap of 2cm, and then glued the 2cm pieces together - probably a little longer than the one in the template so I could fit more stuff in!

Then you just use some acetate (mine were OHT sheets) and Crystal Effects to adhere the die-cuts - I had already put Dimensionals on them all and the Crystal Effects on the bottom of the Dimensional - so they should just come off really easily...

Then I followed Amy's idea in filling this little folder with pre-made die-cuts! How awesome is that! I would LOVE to have a gift like this - things that you can just pull off and whip onto a card - how quick would that be.

I'm really hoping they get some use out of them..

So what crafty things are you making for your gifts this year?

Kirsty Brown Case

2011-11-24T09:14:00.001+10:00

Hello lovelies - back again with a CASE this time - I love Kirsty Brown's craft and find her so super inspiring, and when I saw THIS card I just knew I had to have a go at making one myself...

So here is my version...

I love Marina Mist and have used Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, So Saffron and Peach Parfait to compliment.

Its a dreary, rainy day here today - the perfect day to CRAFT!!!!!

Hoping you're finding some time of your own to make beautiful things.

Come again soon,

Smiles

Adele xxx

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

2011-11-21T13:03:00.000+10:00

Just another quick little post to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my lovely lovely friend and partner in all things paper-crafty - LISA!!!!!!

Really really hope you have a lovely birthday today my friend - I am so grateful to have someone close by that understands my crazy love for paper and glue - I LOVE sharing it with you!!! You are just the best - so wonderfully inspiring, and your 3D projects especially blow me away.

Big hugs, kisses and birthday wishes!!!!!

Love
Adele xxx :)

Christmas Crafts

2011-11-21T12:59:00.000+10:00

I have a fun little project to share with you today - this idea kind of just hit me out of the blue and I'm so glad it did because I LOVE how its turned out!!!! :)

I started with a pile of wood looking like this...

and ended up with them looking like this!

I have been holding onto some remnants of Christmas DSP from two years ago for the perfect project and thank goodness I had enough to do this - they have been my fav set of Stampin' Up! Christmas papers ever so I'm so so happy that I'll be able to look at them every year from now on! hehehhe

So the idea with this Advent Calendar is that under each block is attached an activity for the day. Once we've completed the activity for the day the block can just be turned around so just the paper is showing. I'm still undecided whether to leave them lined up in order like this or to make them a little random and all over the place. It will probably depend on where I decide to place it - its where it is at the moment just until I decide what to do with it - oh - and waiting till the first of December would probably be a good idea too!!!! hehehhe

I'm so excited for Christmas this year and have so many ideas floating around in my mind of things to make - so hopefully I'll have more to show you over the next couple of weeks.

And here are just some close up shots of some of my favourite blocks...

I can't actually tell you where this wordy paper comes from - it was just in my stash but is one of my absolute favourites!!!! I love blue in Christmas things...

How gorgeous is this sparkly green design - yum yum yum!!!

And here's a row of some of the papers all together - they just co-ordinate so perfectly. I LOVE it!!!

The blocks are all slightly different sizes which I am loving too - it all adds to the random-ness of the project.

And just to end I thought I'd pop on a little photo of my sleeping beauty - getting so chubby now and just so much fun with the smiling and little chats we have sometimes. We are so blessed with such a gorgeous gorgeous baby girl...I love her to bits!!! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by, and come again soon! :)

Have the best day!

Smiles

Adele xxx

Old Craft

2011-11-13T20:32:00.000+10:00

Well, in an effort to be a more regular blogger I thought I'd share with you some craft I made a little while ago.

One of my closest friends was celebrating her 30th birthday and I wanted something a little special to give her, and had heard of the idea of a money tree where you give a $1 for every year of their life. So I set about making my own version...

I could NOT figure out a way to photograph it - this was the best I could do!

Basically a tree branch stuck in a pot of clay and made to look pretty. I did my very best to make it look as pretty as possible though. :) I made these little pouches to slip the coins in using the heart punch and some ribbon, and hung them on the branches...and made lots of these little flowers as well.

And this was the matching card - a CASE from the IB&C with my own take on it.

A rather impractical gift perhaps - really just fancy packaging, but lots of love went into it and it was fun to make, and most importantly pretty to look at! :)

My husband is away on Senior Camp this week so I am looking forward to less housework and more crafting!!!!!! While the cat's away the mouse will play right! :) :) :)

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous week!!!

Smiles

Adele xxx

Regionals

2011-11-10T17:38:00.000+10:00

Ok - I PROMISE that I will be a better blogger here on out!!!! This year we have been SHOCKING and it has to stop! hehehehhe.

And to start the ball rolling I thought I'd show you some photo's of the swap card I made for the Brisbane Regionals last weekend...

Really bad photo's I know - I still haven't sorted out a good place for taking photo's...

Anyway - this is the green version - I've used Always Artichoke - and can I say I LOVE this green for Christmas - so lovely and deep and subdued. Paired with Cherry Cobbler and Very Vanilla - I really really like this colour combo.

So - its a Always Artichoke base. I've added an embossed layer and then used the new Log Cabin Smooch Spritz on the background - on the green it looks more like the spritzer tool, but on the red the lovely glittery-ness really shows through.

To that I've added a Top Note using the new First Edition DSP (LOVE!!!!) on which I have stamped the family image from 'Season of Joy' and then I have glued over the top a Vellum Top Note onto which I have stamped the wreath image from the same stamp set. I have used a pen to colour in the little berries. I really really liked the effect - just nice and soft. Finish it off with some flowers and that yummy yummy seam binding ribbon and I was done.

And here's the red version...

I did alternate the colour of the sentiments but other than that the two are exactly the same. I made 40 of these and was thoroughly sick of them by the end. :)

And this is the only action shot I got on the day - Lisa will KILL me for sharing it but it was the only one! :) Lisa took lots herself so hopefully she'll be able to share a few soon. :)

Thanks so much for stopping by and I PROMISE to be back again soon!

Have a great weeks end!

Smiles

Adele xxx

Catching Up

2011-10-18T10:03:00.000+10:00

So it has been an AGE!!!! So much has happened in the past couple of months and I am still trying to recover from it all!

Firstly, we had our beautiful baby girl on Tuesday 20th September, at 3.41am. She is perfect and just so so beautiful - I am totally in love with her. We named her Emersyn Marie and she is a little sweetheart. Growing so so quickly though - I wish you could just hit the pause button for a little while...

It was a fairly normal labour (ie. painful!!!!!) and I had so much on my mind at the time that is was hard to concentrate on what I needed to do (getting the baby out!!!!) - hehehehe - see, we were moving house the next day and Tuesday was meant to be my mega packing day and here I was in hospital not able to help at all with all that needed doing at home!?!?!?!?! Of course having a baby was much more important, but I would NEVER recommend having a baby and moving house anywhere in the same month, let alone the same week! I was so exhausted from all the packing and the extreme discomfort of being hugely pregnant and not able to sleep or move! :) Thank goodness for my wonderful husband, parents and parents-in-law and some lovely ladies from church who finished packing for me.

They sent me home on the Wednesday afternoon and my husband drove us all to our new house - an hour away. Thank goodness all the big furniture was in its place - all we had to do was throw sheets on the beds and put the kids in.

So all in all a totally eventful week. All I can say is paying for removalists was a life saver and something we will DEFINITELY do next time we move!

So - yes I have crafted a little over the last few weeks, but as my camera power cord is still packed in some random box somewhere I haven't been able to recharge my camera to be able to upload photo's. I will post some photo's of our new house as well once I can locate it.

And other exciting news - Lisa and I are attending the Regional Seminar in November!!!!!! Super super excited but totally freaked out about swaps!!! Anyone out there have any advice/guidelines we should follow?? So looking foward to getting to meet some local stampers as well and really get back into the groove of crafting frequently - its been one hell of a year!

Thanks for bearing with me through such a looong post - come again soon and I promise to have some craft to show you.

Have the best day!
Smiles

Adele xxx

New Catalogue!!!!!!

2011-09-01T18:22:00.000+10:00

Its HERE!!!!!! The GORGEOUS, BEUATIFUL, EXCITING new Catalogue!!!! You just have to go and have a look at this - so many yummy yummy things to drool over and ad to that never-ending wish list (if you're like me?).

Look at that gorgeous cover - I love all these colours together and can't wait to get to work CASEing a few/all of these awesome creations. Follow this link to view the catalogue in all its loveliness on-line or contact me if you'd like to purchase your very own copy!!!!!!

There is also an amazing promotion being run for the month of September - Join Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator for only $169!!!!! How awesome is that...

And this is what you get in the Starter Mini Kit...

Many of these things are also interchangeable if you have something else on your must have list.

Alternatively, if you're wanting to purchase the full, regular Starter Kit you can do so for 20% off!!!! That's only $231.20!!!!! How awesome is that - especially as you get over $600 worth of value!

So many new and exciting things happening at the moment - so if you're interested in ANYTHING contact me either on adlewiess@yahoo.com.au or 0403 545 602. I would love to help you out ;)

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Smiles

Adele xxx

Retired List

2011-08-27T10:25:00.000+10:00

Hello lovely friends - it has been an age!!!!!! I am so sorry but have to say crafting has not been a huge priority as my body prepares to deliver another baby - I am feeling OLD!!!!!!!! hehehehehe.

I just thought I'd pop on here and post the Retired List for retiring Stampin' Up! Products - that's right - the new catalogue goes live NEXT WEEK!!!!! Very very exciting hey! So if you're interested in having a squiz pop on to this link and click on the Retired List button and it will take you to a PDF file with the list of dissappearing products - that's right - they'll be GONE FOR GOOD!!!!!

So there's still time to let me know if there's something you just must have - and some of the items are discounted too which is always awesome!

If you're wanting to order anything you can email me on adlewiess@yahoo.com.au or Lisa on lisajguy@hotmail.com

Thanks for still being there!!!

Smiles

Adele xxx

Another Class Card

2011-07-09T13:04:00.001+10:00

This is the fourth card we made at our Stamp-a-Stack class last week...

I don't think this is in my normal style, but I actually really like the busy-ness of it. We created the background by using the Musical Notes Standard Wheel and then stamping that lovely large bold Baroque image over the top. Add some DSP, a lovely paper flower, and a sponged chipboard letter and you're pretty much done.

And I have to say I'm loving that gorgeous rich Concord Crush too! Yum Yum

Smiles

Adele xxx

Impressions Magazine Case

2011-07-07T12:30:00.001+10:00

This is one of the cards we made at my last Stamp-a-Stack class - totally CASEd from a recent Impressions Magazine edition. I loved the look of the card when I saw it in print but didn't think more of it till I watched the tutorial on Stampin' Connection (a forum available to Demonstrators - seriously an AWESOME place to recieve inspiration - you are definitely not left to your own devices when you join the Stampin' Up! family - you should give it a try :) :) :) It looked super achievable and is truly stunning - I can't wait to try this same principle in different colours and stamps...

So what is it? Its a fabulous use of our Shimmer Paints and they are BEEEA-U-TI-FUL! You stamp the main image in the colour of your choice, clean your stamp, and then sponge on the Shimmer Paint of your choice, stamping it over your original image. Here I have used Champagne Mist and I LOVE the soft shimmery-ness of it. Of course the photo's don't do it justice...:)

I LOVE that Crochet Trim as well - hopefully it will make a come back and we can have it all the time!

Thanks for stopping by - I have a couple more posts coming up so be sure to come back again in a few days and I'll have some more eye candy for you!

Smiles

Adele xxx

A Work In Progress

2011-07-05T13:03:00.001+10:00

I've started a present for a special someone and am a little lost as to how to complete it, and thought you'd all have some fabulous ideas for me! :)

Its a 9cm x 9cm wooden block and I've covered all four sides with a photo of the kids and my husband and I. I love the effect of the four sides, but have put DSP paper on the top and had thought to put a flower on the top - but it looks a little bit like a muffin and I'm not sure I like the introduction of the colour against the black and white photos. I love the rawness of the wood and black and white images...

What do you think...

I'd like to get some rub-on's to put over the photo's but am stumped as to what to do to the top, if anything?

Can't wait to hear your ideas - I'm sure they'll be the perfect solution...

Thanks for your help!

Smiles

Adele xxx

Wood Blocks Class

2011-07-05T12:29:00.000+10:00

Hello lovelies - just popping on to show you a variation of the photo wood block we'll be doing in a class this Saturday evening. Here is the original block...and here is the variation...

I've tried to keep this one relatively embellishment free as I'm still deciding whether its masculine enough to give to my husband for his upcoming birthday??? I've also added the word which I kind of like - it makes it have more of a scrapbooking feel...

If you're interested in making one of these for yourself the class details are

THIS SATURDAY 9th July

7.30pm @ my house

$15 - you will need to supply your own picture obviously :).

RSVP: This Thursday 7th July

I made one of these for my mother's birthday on the weekend and used a colour photo and it worked just as well - I loved the colours and brightness of it. If I can I'll try and get a photo of it before the week is out, so you don't have to use a black and white if you don't want.

Have a great week and hope to see some of you soon! :)

Smiles

Adele xxx

Baby Shower

2011-07-01T10:37:00.000+10:00

I know I haven't contributed anything for months...but I'm slowly getting back into everything after being away overseas with my husband and daughter on our trip of a lifetime! We had such a blast but are well and truly back to reality and normal life.

My sister-in-law is having a baby any day now and a few weeks ago I hosted her baby shower. I actually made the invites before we left on holiday and then had the party 1 week after we got back. She loves giraffes and doesn't know if she is having a boy or a girl so I decided to make everything multi-coloured!

I carried the animal theme through the invites, the decorations and the thank you cards. I even made some paper bunting which was very easy and quick. From her party I have been asked to make invitations, cake toppers and more for a little boys 1st birthday party so when I complete those I will post some pictures.

I have fallen back in love with the Fox and Friends stamp set! I also love the word set Curl Cute, which is where the 'Thank you' on the thank you card is from.

Hoping to post more soon,

Lisa xxx

Candles!

2011-06-11T21:33:00.001+10:00

So I have JUST finished this little project of mine in time for Church tomorrow, and its night time and my night time photo's suck, but I just HAD to jump on here and share a photo or two with you...

So why am I so excited you ask??? Its just a stamped candle? We've all seen these before right? Well - you probably can't read the words on these candles because the photo's are (pretty) bad, but they don't come from a stamp. They are a scripture that goes with the lesson I am teaching tomorrow and I just had to figure out a way of getting it on to that candle.

So how did I do it you say? You may be clever enough to have already thought of my method, but for me it was a lightbulb moment.

I typed up my words on the computer, and then got an OHT sheet and printed it on that. As soon as it came out of the printer I whipped it on to a waiting piece of tissue paper and used my bone folder to moosh the ink onto the tissue paper. It comes out backwards (do you get me - looking at it from the printer the words are the right way round, but when you place it on the tissue paper you want the inked side to go down, so when the words are 'stamped' they're backwards). Then I proceeded with the normal method of decorating a candle. You can find an awesome tutorial here from Splitcoast Stampers.

Fun hey. I'm really really happy with how they've turned out and think they make really cute hand outs. Best part yet - they were on sale at Target so I got them for next to nothing. Got to love a bargain.

Now that I've done it I will DEF be doing these again. Wouldn't they make gorgeous gifts? And now I know I'm not limited to the stamp sets I own - I can type out anything I'd like!!!!! YAY!!!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Smiles

Adele xxx

Name Blocks

2011-06-09T17:23:00.005+10:00

Another set of name blocks - these ones for an ADORABLE little boy named Hugo! I've taken far too long to make these ones - little Hugo is almost 3 weeks old - doesn't time fly! Anyway - these are 7cm x 7cm, covered in Baja Breeze DSP from the last catalogue and I've also covered the Chipboard letters this time which is a first - normally I just paint them white or vanilla, but I felt this time I needed to do something more, and I really like the effect. Hugo has the most gorgeous (!!!!) retro knit blanket and it kind of inspired me with the blue and brown together.

If you have any questions just shoot me an email and I'll answer asap.

Thanks so much for stopping by - come again soon!

Smiles

Adele xxx

Picture Blocks

2011-06-08T17:45:00.000+10:00

So this is my newest wood-working craze - photo blocks!!!! I saw the idea for these on a site I used to prepare my lessons for a class of young girls I teach at church and adapted it a little to suit my need for pretty flowers and accessories! :) We ended up doing this as an activity and all the girls got to make their own.

So I'm planning on adapting these to use a photo of Ystyn and I, or the kids or whatever photo I might like and do the same thing. I'll be back soon with new photo's later in the week...but I have to say, I love the things you can do to a boring lump of wood!

Smile smile smile,

Adele xxx

Cards for June Class

2011-06-08T17:22:00.000+10:00

Just popping back to show you 2 of the cards we'll be making at my card class coming up on Tuesday 28th June...

This is the Faux Silk card we'll be doing - I've changed the colours from the brown version I did here - I really like these soft colours - I've used Naturals Ivory as the base and the retired Pale Plum (???) and Crumb Cake.

Next up is a card I've CASEd from the front cover of the catalogue - I've been wanting to make this card for forever and I have to say I LOVE it - of course these papers are my absolute favourite (Greenhouse Gala) and the Top Note of course looks fabulous any which way its used...

So there you have it. I'll hopefully post the last two cards we'll be making later in the week.

If you'd like to come along and make these cards for yourself email me to reserve you place.

Tuesday 28th June
7.30pm start
$20 to make 8 cards (2 each of 4 designs)

RSVP - as soon as possible! :) :) :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Smiles

Adele xxx

2011-06-08T17:02:00.000+10:00

So its my Dad's 60th birthday in a couple of weeks and my older sister and her family (5 daughters and husband) are all driving up from NSW for the celebrations. We have some fun things planned between the 3 of us (my older & younger sister) and one of these is a party! Of course - who can celebrate turning 60 without a party!!!!

We're really excited about what we've chosen to do - we're basing it all on a fav story of ours from our dad's childhood - Dad used to love playing cowboys and indians and one day they decided to actually tie someone to the stake!!!! So - they got a victim all tied up and proceeded to light a fire to burn the baddie - to cut a long story short, the baddie got away but the garage didn't survive?? Dad burnt down grandad's shed!!!!!

We loved Dad telling us this story - its always been a family favourite. And since I actually currently live in my grandparents house where said shed used to exist we'll be holding the party here in the existing shed/garage! And we're having a Western theme - complete with a cardboard cowboy city and a teepee and stake all set up. We're going to have lots of fun games for the gazillions of grandkids that will be running around and some yummy yummy food.

Anyway - so invitations needed to go out to the friends we're inviting - and this is what I came up with. I was looking for the old 'Wanted' stamp set or anything 'Western' I could get my hands on, but in the end decided to just use what I had on hand - the Medallion stamp, the Sanded background stamp and the lovely Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder. I think it kind of all worked together fairly well - looks a bit like a pirate map to me, but hopefully its suggestive enough of old world roughness....

I've stuck a magnet on the back so they can be popped onto the fridge if wanted, and of course decorated the envelopes which you can just see in the background.

Love love love how versatile our stamps and inks and embossing folders are....just awesome!

Thanks for bearing with me through such a long post...

Smiles

Adele xxx

Paper: Naturals Ivory, Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Peach Parfait

Stamps: Medallion, Sanded,

Other: Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Twine, Sponging,

Class Dates for June/July

2011-06-02T11:13:00.000+10:00

Well, I think its high time I set some dates for a class or two - its been FOREVER and I miss seeing all of my crafting buddies!!! :)

So, with school holiday's upon us I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to set some dates...

Tuesday 28th June

Stamp-a-Stack

$20 to make 8 cards (4 designs, 2 of each)
We will be doing a few new techniques at this class - Faux Silk and Faux Mother of Pearl - see photo at end of post...

7.30pm start

My house - address given on reciept of RSVP.

And

FRIDAY 8th July

Wood Blocks Class

$15 to create your very own vintage wood photo block. We made these for a craft class at church recently and they turned out beautifully so I'm really excited to do this as a class. I forgot to take a photo before giving my example block away, but I'll make another one before the end of the week and post it on here so you can see.

Here is a shot of a Faux Silk card - not sure if we'll do these colours of something a little different, again - I'll decide before the end of the week and post photo's on here so you can see.

Really really hope LOTS of you are available to come - I miss you!!!! :) :) :) hehehhe

Have a fantabulous week and I'll be back SOON with more photo's!

XXX XXX XXX

Adele

Another Baby Card...

2011-06-02T11:00:00.000+10:00

I have a couple of really bad photo's to share with you today - I really need to improve where I take photo's - I need something much quicker and easier then I have been doing in the past - it just takes way to much energy to 'set up' a little studio every time I want to take a photo?????

Anyway, here's a few of a baby card I made for a lovely lovely friend who just had the cutest little baby boy a week or so ago (seriously - ADORABLE!!!!)...

I love Crumb Cake for baby's cards - it goes so well with the nice soft blues and pinks. I've used the Nursery Necessities set for this one (an old retired set) and Fox and Friends from the current catalogue. Not extremely original but I thought it turned out really cute.

And one more close up...

I have made some matching name blocks to go to this little fellow - I'll take some pictures later on today and post them up so you can have a gander - I do so LOVE blocks!!! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Come again soon,

Smiles

Adele xxx

Just Believe Faux Silk

2011-05-18T11:22:00.001+10:00

I have another card to share with you today - I have actually been crafting madly prior to Mother's Day - my gifts to my mother and mother-in-law was a box full of cards and envelopes so it was a mad rush to get the box full enough. Photo's you say???? Well, I forgot, or ran out of time, or both! So sad because there were some cute ones in there - all mostly simple - I'll probably try and recreate some of them and share them with you then.

Anyway, this is a card I made for a friend who is moving using the Faux Silk. This is a technique I've been dying to try but I kept forgetting to buy white tissue paper! This was SOOOOO easy, and is definitely a FAVOURITE technique that I will use again and again and again - all you have to do is stamp your image on a light coloured base, then take a piece of light coloured tissue paper (I've only used white) and cut it slightly larger then the stamped piece of cardstock. Then you scrunch the tissue paper up in your hand into a tiny ball - unravel and use our Anywhere Glue stick to cover your cardstock with and spread out your tissue paper over the top. Trim the edges and its done! And how stunning does it look...

And yes, there's that damn ruffled ribbon again??? hehehehe. I am ALWAYS finding a reason to use it - hehehehe - I really need to come up with some new tricks! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by, hopefully I'll have more to show soon!

Smiles, hugs and more smiles,

Adele xxx

Baby Gifts

2011-05-18T11:08:00.001+10:00

Hiya there! Its been a little longer than I was hoping it would be :) - I don't know about you but I am DYING to hear all about the Stampin' Up! Convention and am stalking blogs of the lovelies I know of who attended! I'm hoping they all had a fabulous time and have time to share all their fun with us (hint hint hint!!! hehehehe).

Anyway, I had to make a gift for a friend who's just had a lovely, gorgeous baby girl! I made a set of blocks (like these) - pink ones with the little one's name on it. Of course I had to make a matching card.....

And of course matching wrapping and a tag! I actually didn't write on the tag this time so it can be re-used if wanted???

I think that elephant is just the cutest thing ever! And of course pink and craft together aren't too bad either? :)

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Come again soon,

Smiles

Adele xxx

Easter

2011-04-25T21:28:00.000+10:00

Hello lovlies - I am really hoping you've had a wonderful wonderful Easter weekend. We've had a fantastic couple of days spending time with our family, just taking it easy. Its also been a very spiritual weekend for us as we've tried to teach our children and remind ourselves of the true meaning of Easter. I'm so greatful for these seasons of reflection...its been truly wonderful...

So anyway, on to the craft - I was able to spend a little time making some small Easter gifts for a few friends. I was on the lookout for a really simple basket or box and saw this one on Marelle's website and decided to give it a go. Marelle has used her Big Shot Scallop Square Die Cut which I don't own, so I just cut a square to the size I wanted and used my border punch to create some detail. Seriously simple and really effective.

I didn't have time to set up my normal 'studio' to take my photo's, but the grass served fairly well - :) :) :)

And of course I had to make some matching cards - very simple and very quick, but I think they still look pretty.

Thanks for stopping by, come again soon!

Smiles,

Adele xxx

Bliss!!!!!

2011-04-21T19:14:00.032+10:00

I fell in love with this set as soon as I layed eyes on it. I love the beautiful gorgeous flourish and the vintage-y feel of it all. This card was super simple to make - ummmmm - perhaps that's because I CASED it and had very little to think about! :) I have just discovered the beautiful Renee's blog after she left me a blog award (thank you so much Renee!) and these stunning cards she has made with this set. Her blog was also the place where I got the idea for the tulips on my last card...

I've made a few subtle additions - the Lace Border punch, the glitter around the edges of the main panel and the flourish image stamped in the background, but in essence it is totally Renee's gorgeous work, and I LOVE it! I think I'm going to make a few of these - perfect for weddings/engagements/birthdays - whatever the occasion - I love it...

There are a number of other amazing cards I've scoped out while I've been sick so I will most likely be CASEing those in the coming weeks as well while I get back into the swing of things - I'm so grateful for all the amazing inspiration out there...

Did I tell you how HAPPY card making makes me??? :)

I hope you're doing something that makes your heart sing too...

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Smiles

Adele xxx

CARDS!!!!!!

2011-04-20T19:11:00.000+10:00

YAY!!!!! I have FINALLY been able to get around to making some CARDS!!!!

And it was so exciting!

I thought it would be really hard getting back into it and that I would be dismally unhappy with the outcome, but in actuality, I'm pretty happy with the outcomes - yes, outcomeS - I made 2 cards!!!! But I'm only going to post one tonight and keep the other one for another post...

I haven't had a chance to play with the Sale-a-bration sets, so I'm sorry but I'll probably be playing with them for a little while?

Anyway - here it is...

i LOVE the colours in this card - Marina Mist, Poppy Parade, Pumpkin Pie and Old Olive - so nice and bright and happy!

I think its missing a little something, but for a first attempt in months I can let it go quite happily ;)

There's the tiniest little bit of glitter on the cut out flower - not sure if I should have cut out ALL of the flowers or not - next time perhaps...

And here's a little look at the inside - I left it nice and simple...

So there we go - hopefully I'm back at the crafting table for good for now - I can tell you it felt AMAZING being able to make cards again - it does something to my brain - I always feel so much happier afterwards.

Thanks for stopping by, hope you all have a wonderful easter with your loved ones.

Come again soon - hopefully blogging will become a regular event!

SMILES!!!!!!!!!

Adele xxx

Absent Posters

2011-04-07T09:34:00.000+10:00

Well hello strangers! It has been a LOOONGGGG time hasn't it - I am SO sorry for the absolute lack of any postings whatsoever for the past 3 months or so - our longest drought ever! I was waiting to be able to share some news here on our blog (I'm expecting) and have been so sick in the meantime that crafting has been the furthest thing from my mind. We are now finally 15 and a bit weeks along and I'm starting to have some human moments again, and FINALLY starting to feel the itch to get messy with ink and cardboard, but alas, my crafting space is buried underneath a pile of stuff that will take me a while to sort through and I still don't feel up to tackling that much cleaning! :) :) :)
Also, Lisa has just left on a 9 week holiday visiting Asia and parts of Europe so her postings will continue to be rather limited - sad, because she was crafting up a storm before she left and has lots of photo's to share, but will probably catch up with you all again when she gets back at the end of May.

So for now, HELLO, thank you so much to our faithfuls that haven't given up on us yet, and I PROMISE to get some cards up very very soon.

We also have to thank a number of people who have given us Blog Awards despite our long absence - thank you so much for your kindness - I will be sure to put those up next post and pass them along!

Hoping you are all well and happy and CRAFTING!

Will be back again soon!

Smiles

Adele xxx

Covered Notebooks

2011-01-30T20:18:00.000+10:00

Its been rather quiet on the crafting front these days - what with my big baby boy starting prep and all the new routines and driving and drop offs and lunch making and washing and picking up school shoes and school bags and socks and hats and shorts and shirts!!!! I am EXHAUSTED after only ONE WEEK of school drop offs - how do you mother's do it for YEARS and YEARS!!!!! I'm sure I'll get into the groove soon enough, but it certainly has been a bit of a shock to the system! :)

Anyway - I've just been assigned to teach a class of young women ages 12-17 at church on Sunday's and it was my first one today! And to go along with my lesson topic I made these cute little covered notebooks for each of them. My very first set of covered notebooks - they were definitley fun to make once - just next time I would decide to make them a little earlier in the week! ;)

I've used the same design on all of them - just varied the colours. They're just exercise books with those plastic covers on them - what a difference from your usual school exercise book hey! :)

The worst part about the whole project was running out those damn letters!!!! Having to run them through the Big Shot one by one definitley got tedious - especially when I was on the home run and realised I was missing 3 y's and 2 r's and had to get the Big Shot out again! hehehehhe. Well worth the effort in the end, and I hope the girls really liked them...

And just because I can I'm including a photo of my little Big School Boy! He was so excited on his first day - I was a MESS, but am slowly recovering! hehehehe. If you want to read a little more about our first day you can read about it at this blog - http://www.athomewiththefrancisfamily.blogspot.com/ .

Thanks so much for stopping by - hopefully Lisa or I will have some more inspiring craft soon!

Smiles

Adele xxx

Class for Tomorrow Night

2011-01-20T21:24:00.000+10:00

So I promised more photo's and I'm sorry they've been so late in coming. I'm almost ashamed to say it but I've been on holiday's this past week - a trip that has been planned for months and months. In light of all the flooding and destruction that has been occuring 15 minutes from where I live it felt so wrong to leave my city and head somewhere else for a week of enjoyment and I feel like I need to say sorry to all those people out there who have suffered so much, but I am home now and totally committed to helping out in whatever way I can.

So - I have a class scheduled for tomorrow night and all proceeds from the evening (inlcuding any orders anyone would like to make) will be donated to the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal. There are a number of lovely bloggers who have participated in an Auction, but I think I'm a little late to join in and will do this donation as a beginning.

Here are the two cards we will be making on the night...

This first card is so soft and glittery. Lots of opportunities to get inky with this one.

And this is the second card...

And of course this card uses the AWESOME sweet treat cups (we will have lollies on the night to fill them up with) and is in gorgeous shades of pink and red - perfect for those Valentines Day cards.

These can be used as Valentine's Day cards, Birthday cards, Friendship cards, Thank you cards - they're fairly generic and can suit any purpose. We will also be making the gorgeous and cute little Milk Cartons.

Also - I will be having my Sale-a-Bration sneak peeks available on the night so come prepared to ooh and ahh - they are GORGEOUS this year.

Class Details:

Tomorrow night (Friday 21st January)

7.30pm start

$20 to make 4 cards + 4 Milk Cartons.

Email me (adlewiess@yahoo.com.au) or give me a call/text on 0403 545 602 to book your seat.

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Smiles

Adele xxx

Friday 21st January Class

2011-01-13T15:49:00.000+10:00

Hello friends - I'm writing this post hoping that all of you here in Brisbane are safe and sound and have been un-affected by the awful floods that have swamped our city of Brisbane. It is so terrible and our hearts and prayers go out to those who have lost so much!!!! I'm sure there will be lots of clean up to do in the coming weeks and months and we will be there with everyone else trying to rebuild and help others out for sure!

I wanted to post a quick (and awful) photo of one of the projects we'll be making at my up-coming class next Friday night. Its an adorable little milk carton - these things are soooo darn cute and I'm loving the pink! We'll be making 2 of these as well as 4 additional cards - I will try and post photo's of the cards tomorrow so you can have a squiz.

If you'd like to book in you can email me on adlewiess@yahoo.com.au or give me a call on 0403 545 602 - there are still a few spaces left! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Smiles

Adele xxx

Year in Review

2011-01-04T11:23:00.000+10:00

I've seen lots of blogs that do a Year In Review and I think its such an awesome way of looking back of the year and seeing what you've actually accomplished and how much you've grown. It was awesome to realise that between Lisa and I we have posted over 140 posts! That's exciting to me, and I have big plans to make 2011 an even better year.

Anyway, on to my favourites for the Year 2010. These are just my favourites - hopefully I'll be able to convince Lisa to post up her favourites, but if not, I'll do it for her! It was awesome going back over our posts and still gasping at some of her craft - she's INCREDIBLE!!!

But here are mine...

FEBRUARY - we started our blog in this month

MARCH - a Stationary Box designed to hold 8 cards and envelopes

APRIL - I laboured over this frame but in the end was ecstatic

with how it turned out - was sad to have to part with it :)

Another for April - I LOVE this birdhouse!!! A template from Liam - definitley check it out - so sweet

MAY - A favourite card from this month - Baja Breeze and Vintage

Vogue are def favourites!

JUNE - a cute baby card - you always need some of these

on hand don't you!

JULY - these little bags are AWESOME! Sturdy and you can

decorate them any way you like!

AUGUST - a gift set for someone special - I LOVE these little notelets

SEPTEMBER - horrid photo's but this frame worked out really well -

Greenhouse Gala papers are TO DIE FOR

OCTOBER - I entered this card in an Inkpiration Challenge and was one of the

Top Picks - super super exciting for me!

NOVEMBER - I'm sorry I couldn't choose just one favourite!

These two cards are poles apart on colouring and

sentiment but I just love them both - both were Top Picks

at Just Add Ink...

DECEMBER - I laboured over this Advent Calendar for a whole

afternoon/evening and was so happy with it!

Imagine my despair to wake up the next

morning and find grubby little fingerprints

all over it!!!!! Arrgghhhh

Thank you so much for taking the journey with Lisa and I through 2010. Crafting has definitley brought so much joy to my life and I am truly grateful to have such a hobby. It is truly my therapy time and I love to share in its joys with all my friends in blog land and through our classes. I hope 2011 brings bigger and better things for all of us!

Thanks for stopping by, come again soon!

Smiles

Adele xxx

First Class for 2011!!!

2011-01-04T10:14:00.000+10:00

So its time to get back into the groove of crafting, and what better way then by holding a class!!! I am very very excited and really hope there are lots of you who are wanting to come (hint hint!!! hehehe) and I have lots of awesome things in mind to make! I don't have any pictures for you yet but I will post them as soon as I can. I CAN tell you that we will definitely be making cards with the Sweet Treat Cups that are currently on promotion. HOW EXCITING!!!!

Also on this night we will be launching the Sale-a-bration catalogue so you will definitely be wanting to come along and recieve your very own Sale-a-bration catalogue - there are some SUPER exciting stamps in there which of course you all know you can earn for FREE with every $100 you spend! Its the BEST time of the Stampin' Up! year so you definitely DO NOT want to miss out! :)

Details are:

Friday 21st January

7.30pm start

Cost: $20 to make 6 cards - 2 of which will be Sweet Treat Cup cards

My house in Mt Gravatt, Brisbane

So get excited, book in and I can't wait to see you there!

Lots of smiles

Adele xxx

Sweet Valentine's Promotion

2010-12-31T21:47:00.000+10:00

So the newest promotion from Stampin' Up! is -

Purchase either the Sweetheart stamp set or the Full Heart Punch and recieve a free pack of Heart Treat Cups for FREE!!!! Just the thing to get you ready for Valentine's Day...

Shoot me an email if you're interested in purchasing either of these items - adlewiess@yahoo.com.au or lisajguy@hotmail.com .

Can't wait to hear from you :)

Smiles

Adele xxx

Christmas Crafts

2010-12-31T21:32:00.001+10:00

Happy New Year Everyone!!!!!! I hope everyone had a wonderful wonderful holiday season and are feeling refreshed and eager to bring on the New Year. Ystyn and I have been sick this past week so we're bringing in the New Year in bed :( but can't wait to be healthy and get on with the program! Being sick sucks!

So - crafting? Well - I have to admit I got totally psycho trying to get my Christmas gifts and cards done and handed out on time. Unfortunatley in all the rush I didn't get any photo's!!!!!! Oh no!!!! Actually, I got these few of the wrapping I did for Banana Bread that I gave to some of our friends.

I made up a variation of these cards to give out along with them so I made tags to match. I really like the peacefulness of these cards - I really enjoyed making them. I used doileys on the packaging - I thought they tied in nicely with the embossed panels on the tags and cards.

I did make 2 other kinds of Christmas cards but didn't take photo's of them - but they were inspired by this card by Renee Van Stralen and this card by Teneale. Obvioulsy mine are luke warm in comparison with these two stunners but a girl can try right! :)

So, I did mangage to get out some cards and some gifts but have realised next year I HAVE to HAVE to be better prepared! hehehhe. Looking at it from here Christmas doesn't seem that far away...:)

Anyway, thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you've all had a great week and can't wait to get back into blogland chatting again! Can't wait to start crafting either - my table is STILL a mess from the Christmas rush - I just DON"T want to clean it! hehehehhe

Smiles

Adele xxx

Who Won???

2010-12-27T18:40:00.000+10:00

Thanks everyone for leaving comments and emailing me your answers for the giveaway and leaving comments about which cards you liked best. Hope you all had a fabulous Christmas and will get to have a bit of a rest before getting back to 'life'.

The winner of the Blog Candy is................... Abby!! I have your address Abby, so some time this week I will mail off your parcel to you. I hope you have fun and get to try some new things. Please let me know what you make!

I'm sure Adele and I will be getting together to try some new things...maybe in a week or two! This week I have to cover some 2011 Diaries so maybe I will post those later on.

Love,

Lisa xx

Finally....Christmas Cards!

2010-12-20T00:23:00.000+10:00

So this is a large posting of Christmas cards but I decided to just put them all together as this will be my last post before Christmas. Sorry for the terrible pictures but I took them at night and the lighting was bad!!

I actually had loads of fun making these cards and I was determined to use all my Christmas sets. I didn't realize until after I finished making the cards and layed them all out...but there is a bit of a colour theme happening.

Anyway, in true Lisa fashion....I'm posting pictures without much explanation about what I have used (cos it takes soooo long!). I figure you all know anyway!

Lastly...I have decided to give away a little Blog Candy as I haven't done that yet! So if you can tell me what Christmas sentiment I have used the most and what set it comes from (leave me a message), you will go into the draw to win a special pack which I will post to you after Christmas. Btw, you can let me know which card you like the best too as it's always nice to hear what others think!

The pack contains: Corner Rounder Punch (0.5cm), Neutrals Designer Buttons, Anywhere Glue Stick, Paper Daisies Pack, Stampin' Emboss Powder in White and a packet of Confetti White A4 Card Stock.

You have until the end of this week, Sunday 26th December to enter and then I will draw a winner and announce it on Monday 27th December.

Hope you all have a fantastic Christmas and can't wait to try some new things in the New Year!

Love,

Lisa xxx

Notebooks and Gingerbread

2010-12-10T23:29:00.001+10:00

I always make presents for all of (my daughter) Anisa's teachers and this year I went with covered notebooks and chocolates for some and gingerbread houses for the others. I know you have seen my notebooks before...so sorry for being repetitive! I have made gingerbread houses for the last 17 years...it is a family tradition at Christmastime. They are fun, yummy and adorable to look at and I usually make anywhere between 20 and 60 each year. I have also taught many, many classes and my daughter always has her friends over to make them. So this year I added some very cute homemade tags to finish them off. I love this simple and easy stamp set (Gifted).
Next post will be my Christmas Cards....as soon as I take photos of them!!

Lisa xxx

I'm Baaa-ack!!

2010-12-08T23:17:00.000+10:00

You may have noticed that I have been waaaaay out of the crafting picture of late....and well that's because I have been! Inconveniently, LIFE took over and I was just too busy to attempt anything. I was helping my daughter get through exams, assignments and a myriad of activities. Then it was time for her to graduate and there was 101 awards nights, speech nights, church services, valedictory service and valedictory dinner. While this was going on I had my sister and her family stay with me while I put on my grandparents combined 90th birthday party! Thankfully my daughter has graduated, she's returned from schoolies at Great Keppel Island, my relatives are back in Sydney and I can finally get down to crafting!!!
This post is of my only attempt to craft, and that was out of necessity. My daughter volunteered me to make giant cards for all five year 12 music teachers. I made these all in one night and they are an A4 sheet of card stock folded in half...and because all the year 12's had to write in them I had to add an insert in the middle of each card.
I think I did pretty well under pressure! Anyway, I have since got back into full swing and have lots more photos to show you...but I will spread out my posts over the next week.

Good to be back!!!

Lisa xxxx

Advent Calendar Activities

2010-12-02T08:24:00.000+10:00

If you're looking for some Christmas activites to use on your own Advent Calendar than check out this post - this blog has AMAZING ideas and I LOVED browsing through many of them.

I've used most of the activities suggested in this post and have added a few of our own - yesterday we made Christmas Jelly (just red and green jelly with freddo frogs in it) - I'm sure as the years go by I'll be better at making up the activities. And don't forget - it is an advent calendar so treats are essential!!! hehehehe. I forgot that and was trying to come up with 25 different acitivies, but then I remembered and have about 5 'treat' days - I have a tupperware box of treats ready for when those days come up.

I also included things that we already do like seeing Christmas lights or reading the Christmas story in the scriptures on Christmas Eve, or like tonight - putting up our Christmas Tree. I was in a real rush so the activites aren't terribly inventive. Next year (ha ha) I will be much more prepared!!! hehehehe

I also used dotto (repositional adhesive) to adhere my activities to the back - I figured that way I could remove them and start over again next year if I wanted rather then having to make a whole new set of tags. Who knows - I might have a different idea for an advent calendar next year! :)

Thanks for stopping by

Smiles

Adele xxx

Advent Calendar

2010-12-01T10:59:00.000+10:00

My 5 year old has been driving me nuts with arguments about how close/far Christmas is. He's adamant its only 3 days away (not sure if he means 3 weeks or what) - but anyway - its driving me nuts!!!! SO - I decided I HAD to have an Advent Calendar so we could actually count down the days till Christmas.

So here's what I came up with...

I love it! Probably (!!!!) not very kid friendly but it makes me happy! :)

This is just a big cork pinboard I bought from the Reject Shop for $12. I had the paint at home as well as all the other supplies. I made up 25 tags with 4 different designs and printed out different activities for us to do each day of Christmas. I'm thinking once we've done each day I'll just turn the tag around and re-pin it???

Anyway - the tags are nothing fancy and I've re-used some designs from my last couple of posts, but I'm really happy with the effect. A cost effective (if not time-effective) advent calendar - now - bring on Christmas!!! :)

Smiles

Adele xxx

Another Post...

2010-11-26T07:52:00.000+10:00

I thought I'd help my mum out and create some thank you cards for her and dad to hand out to all the thoughtful, loving, helpful people who lent a hand during the week of Nana's funeral. We're blessed to belong to an amazing and caring church who provided meals for mum and dad while they had family staying with them, and provided all the food for the day of the funeral so my parents and Aunty and Uncle could concentrate on family and remembering Nana. So - there are lots of thank you's to be said.

I loved this card of Teneale's from the moment I laid eyes on it and knew that I could make it work as a simple thank you card, so here's my take on it...

My photography skills don't do the card justice - the colours look all a little weird here, but in real life its just lovely and simple and clean and pure. I love them and hope they convey a little of the true gratitude we feel for the people who touch our lives so much for the good.

Thanks for stopping by,

Smiles and hugs,

Adele xxx

Inkspiration Sketch Challenge #49 and Just Add Ink Colour Challenge #44

2010-11-24T19:51:00.000+10:00

So sooooo annoyed at myself!!!! I've been struggling to upload photo's to my blog all day and have been trying on this blog and also my family blog and in the end gave it up in frustration! Have come back to it now to realise that I actually can upload so just started doing my thing without realising which blog I was on only to discover I have loaded all my craft stuff onto the family blog and have no idea how to get it over here without retyping the whole damn thing!!!!

So here I am retyping the whole damn thing!!!! :)

I'm going to keep it brief! hehehehe

Inkspiration and Just Add Ink Challenges - combined - see below...

And here is my card...

The Sketch is flipped but otherwise fairly true to form. The colours however I had to do a little bit of 'making do'??? I don't actually own any Wild Wasabi or River Rock Cardstock yet - however - I was saved by the fact that I do own the inks (my very first set of inks when they were In Colours in 2007/2008). I was very impressed that they were still inky!!! So - I've used Chocolate Chip and Crumb Cake as well as Very Vanilla and used Wild Wasabi to colour in my leaves, and River Rock with highlights of Blushing Bride to colour in my flowers. All in all a very vintagey looking card...

A close up of those flowers - I love these flowers...

Ok - so I can't be bothered writing out all my supplied AGAIN so, if you have any questions just shoot me a line! :) :) :)

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Smiles

Adele xxx

Presents!

2010-11-23T15:12:00.000+10:00

I needed to make a present for a very special someone during the week and this is what I came up with...

A Box of Roses...

This is the box - a paper mache box I purhcased and decorated the front of - I was inspired by the gorgeous little box on one of the first pages of the current catalogue - I love how this turned out...

And then once you open the lid this is what you see - a first layer of tiny little flowers all pre-made, ready to go...

Then a second layer which has stacks of hand cut leaves to go with what was in the bottom of the box...

Which was stacks of these roses! My favourite flowers of the moment - the same ones that I made to use on this card here. I didn't attach the leaves myself because as you can see from my original card sometimes a flower doesn't need leaves to look gorgeous! :). So I just had them all ready to go should a particular flower be in need of some greenage...

A close up of the first 'drawer' - just a shallow box with a ribbon handle so it can be pulled in and out of the box. I'm not very clever when it comes to designing things and this was the best I could come up by way of getting layers into my box - hopefully its not too annoying to access the other contents?

A close up of some of the flowers - these are all made using the Circles #2 Die cut from the Big Shot - just run out a whole heap of coloured circles, spritz them with water and scrunch, leave to dry a little, then assemble. Simple but effective - I think anyway? :)

The card I made to go with it all. Its so easy to make things when you've got a theme going. Not sure if its over-kill or not, but I made the card to match the tag to match the box? All the same but different?? Is that what you do when doing packaging and gifts?

And a close up of the tag. I loved this tag - so cute and so easy to make - and re-usable! I only wrote in the card so this tag can be used again and again. Cant wait to get started on some Christmas tags!!!

So there you have it - a Box of Roses for a Special Someone! Lots of love went into this box - I hope that shows through...

Thanks for stopping by,

Don't forget our last class of the year is this Saturday night - see here for further details!

Smiles

Adele xxx

Stamps: Word Play, Vintage Vogue

CS: Crumb Cake, Assorted Current Colours( for small flowers), Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Pear Pizzaz,

Ink: Crumb Cake, Soft Suede

Other: Big Shot, Circles #2 Die, Three Blossom Punch, Two Way Bird Punch, Dimensionals, Vintage Brads, Circle Ice Brads, Assorted rhinestone gems from personal stash, Riding Hood Red Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Scallop Trim Punch

Blog Candy

2010-11-22T13:46:00.000+10:00

I'm so sorry - I know I missed posting the winner of my blog candy question (found in this post here) - everything kind of slipped my mind with all the drama of the past week...

So...I've decided to send a little blog candy to the three participants who answered the question correctly - Sarah-Jane, Sandra and Chook!!!! So if each of you would like to email me (adlewiess@yahoo.com.au) with your address details I'll try and get something into the post by the end of the week!!! :)

Thanks so much for all the lovely comments - you guys are the best! xxx xxx xxx

Smiles

Adele xxx

Christmas Blocks Class

2010-11-22T09:59:00.000+10:00

Hello friends!!!! Its been a while I know and I've missed blogging during the past week - my grandmother passed away last week so it was a time for family and togetherness and I didn't actually get around to much crafting. My sister and her 5 kids drove all the way from Wollongong to stay with me and it was so nice having time with her and all the cousin's together. The house is oddly quiet now (:)). Life can be so good and so sad all at once can't it...

But on with this weeks class - yes, its this Saturday and its our last class for the year!!!! We'll be doing Christmas Blocks -

So details...

Saturday 27th November (this Saturday)

7.30pm start

$20 for 3 blocks and all accessories

If 'JOY' isn't what you'd like to put on your blocks thats totally fine - you can purchase additional blocks and letters for $3.50 per block - you just need to let me know when you RSVP how many blocks you require.

It will be lots of fun - these blocks are close to my favouritest things ever to make and I can't wait to share them with you!

RSVP by emailing adlewiess@yahoo.com.au and I will provide bank details for you to pay your money into. This should be a fairly popular class so secure your seat quick! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Hope to see you soon!

Smiles

Adele xxx

Inkspirations Sketch Challenge #47 and BLOG CANDY

2010-11-10T13:40:00.003+10:00

So as you can see I had a REALLY fun night last night - I made 2 cards which did mean I stayed up later than I should have but I enjoyed myself none the less!!! hehehe

This is the sketch for the Inkspiration Challenge...

And this is my card...

As you can see (I hope you can!!!!) I've flipped the sketch to suit my card, but I did try very hard to keep most of the components of the sketch present.

Once again I've used the lovely Dasher - he is just adorable I think, and I love to see his antlers all glittery! I've also embossed on vellum for the very first time and really like the effect. You might not be able to pick it up in the photo's but I have used the snowflake images from Snow Swirled to stamp on the background card behind the images - they're just not showing up to well?

All in all a very wintery Christmas card - so not an Australian christmas but gives the illusion of a white one!

Now - can you see that gorgeous little snowflake that creates my focal point just below Dasher??? If anyone can tell me where I've got it from I will send them a little BLOG CANDY!!!! Just leave a comment on this post - I will write the names of all correct answers and do a little draw next Wednesday! Happy guessing!!! :) :) :)

Thanks so much - you guys are AWESOME!!!

Lots and lots of smiles

Adele xxx

Stamps: Dasher, Snow Swirled, Best Yet
Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Crumb Cake
Ink: Crumb Cake, Whisper White Craft
Other: Scallop Trim Edge, Vellum, Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon, White Embossing Powder, Big Shot, Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Dazzling Diamonds, Two Way Glue Pen

Just Add Ink Sketch Challenge 42

2010-11-10T13:23:00.002+10:00

Edited: Yay! This card was chosen as a Top Pick for this challenge! I am thrilled and excited and very very grateful to the 'pickers' (thank you so much!!!) but most especially to all the lovely people who have left such supportive comments! Thanks guys...can't wait to play again! xxx

Well hello there friends! Just popping in today to share with you a little card I made using the Just Add Ink Sketch Challenge for this week - super cool sketch - so great to play with...

And here is what I came up with...

Way too many photo's I know - I just can never choose which one to post!!! hehehehe

Recognise that flower? I stole the idea from the Idea & Catalogue Book - check out page 153. :) All I did was run out a set of circles on the Big Shot with the Circles #2 Die, then I used a little misting bottle to wet the paper and scrunched, set aside till they dried and then opened them up. I really like how they've turned out - nice and soft and relaxed. Will definitely be making more of these that's for sure...

Stamps: Baroque BG, Echoes of Kindness, Word Play

Ink: Concord Crush, Stazon Black, Perfect Plum

Paper: Concord Crush, Perfect Plum, Very Vanilla

Other: Big Shot, Circles #2 Die, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Blender Pen, Antique Brads, Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Come again soon!

Smiles

Adele xxx

Stamp-a-Stack Class Sat 13th November

2010-11-05T15:18:00.001+10:00

Wow - I think I have outdone myself this week - another post!!!! :)

Just thought I'd post some cards I made last night for our up-coming Christmas themed Stamp-a-stack...

This close up shot is meant to be showing you the Crystal Effects drizzled on those baubles but its not coming up too well??

Here are the other 2 cards I think we'll be making - they're from the last scheduled Stamp-a-Stack...

so details...

Saturday 13th November

7.30pm start

My house (address given once booking is confirmed)

$20 to make 8 cards (2 of each design)

Email me on adlewiess@yahoo.com.au or leave a comment if you'd like to book your seat!

Really (!!!!!) hope to see you there!

Smiles

Adele xxx

An Exciting Week!!

2010-11-04T21:37:00.002+10:00

So I've had a really exciting week this week! You know those two challenges I entered (Inkspirations and Just Add Ink), well, I was a Top Pick in both of them! How awesome is that!!!! Go and check out the other participants in both of these challenges - there are some really beautiful and fun ideas and creations - there are sooo many amazing crafters out there.

I have to say, apart from challenging myself and trying new things, the next best thing about participating in challenges is all the wonderful people you get to meet! There are so many lovely people out there who are so kind and thoughtful and I have to say a HUGE THANKYOU to all of you who have so kindly left lovely comments on our blog - we LIVE for comments! :)

Speaking about kindness, our blog has recieved a couple of awards in the last few weeks from the most lovely ladies - Patrice and Trish! Both of these ladies have blogs that I visit religiously and always find something lovely to inspire me, so thank you both you gorgeous ladies you!

So with this award I think I'm meant to share 3 things about myself...

1. I love to play the piano - though no where near as often as I should to keep those fingers limber!

2. I met my husband when I was 16 but didn't start dating him till I was 20 - he was an awesome friend but I was adamant that's what he'd stay! Isn't it funny how some things work out :)

3. I talk to my sister every day

and then I'm meant to forward it on to 5 blogs with that little bit extra! (lucky I have a second award to award to more blogs! hehehehe)

1. Be Creative With Amy

2. Janeybell

3. Stamping for Sanity

4. Teneale Williams

5. Kirsty's Cards and Scrapping

I LOVE these blogs and check them almost every day, just IN CASE they've decided to post something new! hehehehe

And then this award is for awesome blog friends...so it has to go to...

1. Janeybell
2. Fresh Cuts By Lu
3. Spring Blossom Journey
4. Spring Blossom Musings
5. A Christy Production...

These are just some of the lovely LOVELY ladies I've met through blogland and its AWESOME to be able to meet people through this craft we love! Thank you thank you thank you to you all for all your inspiration and incredibleness!

Well, back to prepping for my next class (Stamp a Stack next Sat night for anyone who's interested?!?!)

Thanks for stopping by,

Adele xxx

Just Add Ink Challenge Take Two

2010-11-03T14:11:00.003+10:00

So - I made some Peg Magnets and a matching chipboard Top Note Bag to go along with the birthday card I made earlier this week. Thought I might add it to the Inkspiration Colour Challenge and the Just Add Ink 'Think Birthday' Challenge...this little bag and Peg Magnets are gifts for a friend's birthday (to go with the card) so that qualifies right??? :)

I'm really happy with how these all turned out - again not colours that I would necessarily choose by myself, but now I really like them!!! AND I have successfully used all 4 sheets (or however many) of Poppy Parade are in the In Colour Pack and am going to need to purchase a new pack, because YES I LOVE this colour! :) :) :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Smiles

Adele xxx

Just Add Ink Challenge

2010-11-02T20:17:00.003+10:00

So I was off to find another challenge to try my hand at and realised my card could enter in to Just Add Ink challenge! I had a go at last weeks' challenge and loved it and can't wait for another sketch or colour challenge. In the meantime I thought I'd enter my birthday card in the Just Add Ink challenge too ;)

So here's the challenge...Just Add Birthday's!!!!

Sorry you have to see my card again!!!!!!

I promise to have something new for you again soon! :)

Smiles

Adele xxx

Inkspiration Colour Challenge #46

2010-11-02T14:56:00.004+10:00

Yay!!!! I've had another go at an Inkspiration Challenge and its doing exactly what its meant to do - take you out of your comfort zone!!!! This card is nothing like my normal style but I like it nonetheless??? So nice and bright and cheery...Poppy Parade is set to become a definite favourite of mine I think - such a gorgeous, strong, vibrant colour! Love it!

So here's the Colour Challenge...

And here is my card...

All fairly self explanatory I hope - I've used only the colours in the challenge; some retired So Saffron DSP that I stole from Lisa :); some gorgeous retired So Saffron ribbon - ruffled AGAIN I know, but I do so love a good ruffle!!!; my favourite punch in the whole wide world - the Scallop Trim; the Top Note die (which incidentally Christaine Blaine - a fellow challenge participant has used so charmingly on her card and it reminded me that I own that gorgeous die too and should use it much more often!!!! Thanks Christine! :)); and the stamps sets 'Petal Pizzaz' (the Poppy Parade flower has been dipped in Dazzling Diamonds) and the current Level 1 Hostess Set 'Afterthoughts'.

And OH!!!! For the very first time I used my Versa Mark PEN!!! Did you even know there was such a thing in the catalogue?!?! I didn't till I read a post on Renee's blog where she's used one and I thought I'd have to scour local craft stores to find one - when I thought to just check our catalogue and there it was!!!! I've used it on the sentiment - I've stamped it in the Baja Breeze and then used my Versa Mark pen over the top and then sprinkled it with Clear Embossing Powder! Just an extra little detail. I was most annoyed with myself for not thinking to do it on the back panel as well, but oh well - next time I can! :)

And after all that effort (I AM finding it much much harder coming up with my own things rather than just CASEing someone else's work) I thankfully have a special someone in mind for this card!!! YAY!!!

On a personal note the weather here in Brisbane has really started warming up! We took the kids to the beach on our first, very very rare FREE Saturday morning and I thought I'd share some pics we snapped on the day...as you can see the boys had a BLAST, whereas little McKinley wasn't too sure about the whole thing! hehehehe. Apart from making cards and crafting spending time with my family fills me with the deepest joy...

Thanks for stopping by and come again soon!!! :)

Smiles

Adele xxx

More Challenges

2010-10-29T13:10:00.002+10:00

I had so much fun with the last challenge that I thought I'd try a few more. I chose an old Inkspiration Sketch Challenge and coupled it with the last Just Add Ink Colour Challenge. I definitely found the colour challenge a little more difficult to wrap my head around - maybe it just depends on the day???

Anyway, I inked up my Just Believe set for the very first time and can see I will be using this one lots and lots and lots.

Sorry about the photo's - the colours ARE Pear Pizzaz (along with Blushing Bride, Sahara Sand and Bashful Blue) but for some reason its looking a lot more like Kiwi Kiss. In real life the card is very soft and pastel-ey! Also, I don't own Bashful Blue (YET) so I had to use Baja Breeze ink - thankfully I did have a few scraps of the CS from an old Subtles Collection pack...

I'm not totally happy with this card - I'm feeling like the front main panel is missing something??? Can't think for the life of me what it is though - so it stays the way it is!!! :) I feel like I cheated a little as well - I couldn't find a way to incorporate the Blushing Bride, so cheated and just added a flower!! heheehe. A flower can go anywhere right????

Thanks for stopping by, come again soon

And if you're interested in coming to my Frames class tomorrow night I still have a few spots left!!!

Smiles

Adele xxx

Inkspirations Sketch Challenge #45

2010-10-28T10:55:00.003+10:00

Finally!!!! I got my butt into gear in time to participate in a challenge! And - I really enjoyed it!!! I've been finding for the last little while that creativity has been a little low and I've been doing lots of CASEing, but it was great to work with a sketch and come up with my own thing. It definitely took a little longer but I really enjoyed the process.

So here it is....

I LOVE Dasher!!!!!! He is just gorgeous. And I LOVE Cherry Cobbler!!!! And I LOVE the Scallop Trim Punch!!!! And I LOVE LOVE LOVE those Vintage Brads!!!! And how YUMMY is that ribbon!!!! I just love it! Its the Riding Hood Red Striped ribbon that you can select if you purchase one of the Christmas Bundles and I just love it!

Well, off to load it up to Makeesha's website - go and check out some of the incredible entries, particularly the Design Team themselves - they are some of my absolute favourites!

Have the best day ever and thanks for stopping by!

Smiles

Adele xxx

Some Yummy Cards

2010-10-25T16:38:00.001+10:00

Just quickly posting some cards I made a couple of weeks ago - they were inspired by this card of Trish's - I loved its simplicity and elegance (which all of her cards are!!!) and thought I'd give it a go, and these are what I came up with...

I think I would definately like to have another go at these cards with a cleaner look (like Trish's 2nd card) but liked the rustic appeal of these? I have used my markers to ink up the branch, leaves and flowers and the Three Blossom Punch (retired) for the punched out flowers because I don't have the Boho Blossom Punch (YET!!:)).

The colours are Peach Parfait, Baja Breeze, Blushing Bride and Pear Pizzaz.

Anyway, hope you like!

Enjoy your week.

Come again soon.

Smiles

Adele xxx

Peg Magnets

2010-10-21T12:11:00.001+10:00

So these are the sweet little things I was spending my time doing yesterday - seriously, they took all of 10 minutes to do 2, and I really like them. Possibly because I LOVE Greenhouse Gala papers - they are just so so pretty and make me happy inside - and there's Poofy Flowers which are another love of mine - and I'm in desperate need of some fridge magnets so, I am very happy! hehehehhe

Do you like them??? I do! They have grown on me though - at first I wasn't sure, and I added the leaves to make sure they definitely were flowers and not just weird growths on a peg! hehehehe

I glued the paper onto the peg, then sanded the edges. I added paper to the inside of the back peg as well so from the top you don't see any ugly peg? Then I used a hot glue gun to glue on the magnet and the flower and the leaves, so hopefully these babies should withstand some normal family behaviour! :)

I am thinking these are going to become my go-to gift, sweet, simple yet useful. So don't be surprised if some of you get these for Christmas!!! :) I'm very excited to give these a go in different colours too - and maybe with something other than poofy flowers...

Have a great day!

Smiles

Adele xxx

Sneak Peak

2010-10-20T20:31:00.000+10:00

So I had a chance to sit down today and make a few little things that have been in my head to do for a while...and I LOVE them!!! But I'm only going to give you a little sneak peek at the moment...I'll post the rest tomorrow - or maybe the next day? :) :) :)

Come again soon!!!

Lots and lots of smiles.

Adele xxx

Frames Class next Saturday Night

2010-10-20T15:51:00.001+10:00

How early am I to have a post up for a class a whole 1.5 weeks before!!!!!! I am very impressed with myself!!! hehehehhe. Desperate mostly after having to cancel our last class for lack of attendees??? I'm allowing myself to believe people are just busy rather than our craft being crap...I really hope that's not the reason anyway...:)

Anyway, onto our next class! We're making frames! I have a love affair with frames as you might have noticed on our this blog (check out here, and here, and here, and here and here and finally here). I find them a really striking yet quite simple gift to make that incorporates something useful (in that it can be home decor) with something that I love, therefore allowing me to give more of myself through my gift.

Blah blah, ANYWAY!!!

Onto next weekend's class... we will be basing our frames on the ones below or on this frame here. You can do the exact options that I have here or play around a little with different colours when you come along...

DATE: Saturday 30th October

TIME: 7.30pm start

COST: $20 to be paid prior to class in order to secure your seat.

RSVP: by emailing me on adlewiess@yahoo.com.au. Address and bank details will be supplied on reciept of booking.

Thanks for stopping by,

Really really hope to see you soon! :) :) :)

Smiles

Adele xxx

Dress Up Christmas Promotion

2010-10-18T10:36:00.004+10:00

A Christmas promotion!!!!!! YAY!!!!! And this one is delicious!!! Buy a Christmas Bundle OR host your own workshop with sales $550 or more, and recieve a FREE spool of yummy yummy exclusive ribbon worth up to $21.95! These are beautiful ribbons which you CAN'T BUY and I have my eye on a few of them. Be sure to check out the link above...

This is the yummy Christmas Cocoa Specialty Designer Paper that's only available through the Christmas Bundles too...drool away...:)

So, if you're interested in either purchasing one of our Christmas Bundles or HOST your own workshop give either Lisa (lisajguy@hotmail.com) or myself (adlewiess@yahoo.com.au) - we would LOVE to hear from you! :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Smiles

Adele xxx

Cards for Saturday

2010-10-14T16:25:00.001+10:00

Sorry to have been so slack at putting these up - its turned out to be a busy week!

These are just 2 of the four cards we will be making at our Stamp-a-Stack class this Saturday...I will try and post the remaining 2 tomorrow...

Unfortunately (or fortunately!!!!!) these are both CASEs. Isn't it AWESOME that when mojo is running low you can be inspired by the amazing people around you?!? The first card is a CASE of Teneale's (her cards are works of ART) and the second is a CASE of long-time favourite Amy Water's. Check them both out - they just get better and better and better!

In the meantime, if you want to make some of their designs come to my place!!!! hehehehe. This Saturday night, 7.30pm. See previous post for full details!

Thanks for stopping by, come again soon!

Smiles

Adele xxx

Stamp-a-Stack Class this Saturday

2010-10-13T14:33:00.000+10:00

Just a quick post to give our Stamp-a-Stack class a little plug!!!

When: Saturday 16th October (THIS SATURDAY)

Time: 7.30pm start

Where: My house (I will email it to you once you've booked in)

Cost: $20 to make 8 cards

I thought we might as well get a start on Christmas Cards since its just around the corner - I will try and post some photo's tomorrow of what we will be making, so come back and have a look then.

To book please email me on adlewiess@yahoo.com.au

Really REALLY hope to see you there!

Smiles

Adele xxx

A 'Marelle' CASE

2010-10-08T10:57:00.001+10:00

This is a second card we made at our Technique Class last week and I have to say my ultimate favourite!!!! When I saw this card on Marelle Taylor's site it was one of the jaw-dropping moments - I thought it was STUNNING and have wanted to try it myself. I didn't have the same colours Marelle has used and my first attempt wasn't none to pretty (!!!!!) but then my sister (thank you!!!!) suggested trying it in Baja Breeze and it just flowed from there...

So you start with a piece of Whisper White cardstock onto which I've rolled the Very Vintage Jumbo wheel in Sahara Sand (would probably have used Crumb Cake but I don't have that ink pad yet. YET!!!!! :), then stamped the flourish from Vintage Vogue in Soft Suede twice before re-inking to get the softer brown as well as the darker image. Then, you stamp the GORGEOUS Medallion image in Versamark where you want it, cover in Clear Embossing powder and heat set. Once you've done this you use your brayer to smoosh the colour all over the piece of Whisper White making sure you go over the details of the Medallion so it really stands out. Then grab a tissue, or soft cloth or toilet paper as in my case :) and wipe the excess ink of your embossed image - and there you have it! Isn't it stunning! I think so! But then again so are most of Marelle's incredible idea's!

I've mounted the original piece of Whisper White onto another piece of Whisper White, mounted that onto a small mount of Crumb Cake and then have run that ruffled ribbon up the side.

And there you have it. A beautiful card for any occasion. I have already used this one and am anxious to make another so I can just look at it!!! hehehee

Thanks for stopping by, come again soon!

Smiles

Adele xxx

Finally - some craft!!!!

2010-10-06T16:33:00.002+10:00

Well, we made it home safe and sound!!!! And it was AWESOME!!!! I have to laugh at myself though - while we were there most of the time I couldn't stop thinking about how much I missed my babies and I missed CARBS like you wouldn't believe, and then we get back home and all I want to do is be on holiday again eating rice and seaweed!!!! The grass is always greener hey.....hehehehhe. It was a wonderful wonderful experience and I'll share a few more photo's with you in the coming weeks...

But onto craft!!! This is one of the cards we made at my Technique Class this past Saturday. I am in love with this card. Its one I have been wanting to try for a while....I saw the original idea on Nichole Heady's blog years ago (well, maybe only 1 year ago! :)) but haven't had the embossing tools to give it a go - but now I do!!! Happy me! I love these colours together - so reminds me of beautiful nature. Green is an all time favourite, especially paired with craft. And don't you just love this dsp - saves my poor Anne of Green Gables book from further desecration! hehehehe (don't worry - I had a spare copy and used that...)

Basically, you just stamp the image in Versamark, cover with clear embossing powder, heat set, then use a brayer to moosh colour over the embossed image. We were all a bit amateur with the brayer and definitely need more practice with that tool! But all in all very happy with the result!

My house is still a bit topsy turvy and my craft area is a mess but hoping to clean it up asap and get into it again, I've really really missed it!

Thanks for stopping by - come again soon as I'll have another card from our class to show you.

Smiles

Adele xxx

PS: Its so good to be home! :)

Absent Postings

2010-09-26T08:56:00.000+10:00

So I forgot to make a post a couple of weeks ago to let you all know that I wouldn:t be posting anything craftey for the last two weeks due the fact that I would be in JAPAN!!!! My husband is a high school teacher and every 2nd year his school does a Japan trip. He lived in Japan for 2 years as a missionary for our church and still speaks (fairly) fluent Japanese so he normally attends these trips - last time he went I had the 3 little kids on my own and it was a really really long time to be on our own. So this time we decided that I would go with Ystyn and leave our kids with the grandparents (how could we!!!!!). Anyway, so Ystyn and I have been in Japan for the last 11 days - we only have 2 more to go before we get on the plane to come home and I am sooooo excited to come home and to CRAFT again!!! I have started to dream about my stamps at home - priorities right???? hehehhe...

So we will be back in Australia later this week and I am hosting the Technique Class on Saturday night if any of you are interested in attending - we:ll be focusing on Embossing - HOW EXCITING!!!!

See you all soon,
Thanks Lisa for sharing all your GORGEOUS cards and that STUNNING book!!!!!

SMiles

Adele xxx

Never Ending Notebooks

2010-09-23T12:15:00.001+10:00

Back to an old favourite...my covered notebooks. I do love making these and my daughter has an endless line of friends with birthdays!! This is the first thing I have made with the new 'Notably Ornate' set and already I love it and see the possibilities! I've slowed down now it's school holidays and I have a few other things on...and next week my husband and I are in Melbourne so I will be taking a break until school goes back and Adele and I are reunited in our crafting activities again!!

Post again soon,

Lisa xxx

Apple Blossoms

2010-09-21T11:00:00.000+10:00

Here are some more of the cards I made with the second level Hostess Set, Apple Blossoms. I really love this set (can't say it enough!). Hope you are all having fun playing with the new products. Adele and I will be putting another order through in 2-3 weeks so if anyone wants to add in an order just email us! Also we still have new catalogues for sale at $12 if you would like to purchase one.

Lisa xx

My New Favourite Hostess Set!

2010-09-17T14:05:00.000+10:00

I LOVE this level 2 Hostess Set, called 'Apple Blossoms'!! It is the set I have experimented with the most and I find it so versatile and pretty and very quick to make a nice card.

I have mixed in two other sets..the first is the butterfly from 'A Great Friend' and the second is the 'For You Flower' which is from the 'a la Carte menu (which means you can buy just one stamp) and is only $13.95. The other great thing is there is a punch which matches this stamp...I love punches!

I have made many other cards with this set but I will save them for another post in a few days time. Check back to see the rest of this wonderful set being used.

Lisa xx

Using up those Scraps!

2010-09-17T13:54:00.000+10:00

The DSP papers are so lovely that I can't bear to throw even the smallest scrap out....so I end up with a container full of off-cuts! I decided I better start doing something with them and that is how these two cards came about. Scraps are great for getting that eclectic feel...just glue a whole heap of off-cuts together and then neaten them up and whack them on a card! Or use your punches to punch out a whole heap of similiar shapes and then layer them to make flowers.

I am loving the new textured impressions embossing folders...the one I have used is Vintage Wallpaper. The sentiment on the top card is another favourite from a new set called 'Perfect Punches'...every sentiment matches a punch, which is sooo easy and quick!

More things to make....

Lisa xx

Tiny Tags

2010-09-15T14:20:00.000+10:00

These two cards use only the Tiny Tags stamp set and two tiny punches. The hearts are so simple and easy because all I have done is stamp one of the floral swirls in Whisper White on 3 different coloured card stock. Then I have punched out hearts using the small heart punch which compliments the Tiny Tags set. As a complete change the tag card was more labour intensive but very cute...the design is actually a Case of the card in the Catalogue and Idea Book, page 93.

I'll post some more in the next couple of weeks while Adele is in Japan! Check back soon.

Lisa xx

Two Birds and a Monkey

2010-09-15T14:10:00.001+10:00

Some old favourites have come out to play again, but with some new additions! The sentiment on the bird card comes from 'OccasionalQuotes', which is a level 3 hostess set, and the word {love} comes from 'Tiny Tags.

Our little monkeys are from 'Fox and Friends', the branch is from 'Cheep Talk', and I have used some gorgeous papers from 'Greenhouse Gala', one of the new sets of DSP.

I'm having sooo much fun playing with some of the new stuff!!

Lisa xx

New Frames

2010-09-06T14:44:00.001+10:00

I made a few new frames for the Launch party and was really happy with how they turned out, although the photo's leave a lot to be desired...

This frame uses the Butterfly Punch and the Butterfly Prints stamp set from the new catalogue and the GORGEOUS Greenhouse Gala papers!! How effective are all these papers together - I LOVE THEM!!! Seriously - I really really like all of the papers in this collection.

You can't see in the photo but the backing is a piece of Baja Breeze cardstock and I've inked the small damask image from the Teeny Tiny Sentiments set in a pattern all over the back in Versamark for a subtle hint of pattern...and the gorgeous saying in the middle says 'Love is like a butterfly, it goes where it pleases and pleases where it goes', which I think is really really sweet!

Sorry for the bad photo!!!! This frame is essentially exactly the same as the one I made for a friend in this post - although now that I'm looking at the two of them on the screen I can spot a few differences...

The colours in this frame are baja Breeze and Soft Suede - that delicious spotted ribbon is no longer available (so sad)?? These colours together are so soothing to me and I am in love with this style of frame - so vintage looking - I love it!

So I am more than happy to sell these frames to anyone that wants them. They will be $20 each plus P&H if you're not in the local area. Better yet, why not have a go and whipping up your own!!! If you need any help with purchasing supplies just let me know! (wink wink!!!!)

Thanks for stopping by, come again soon...

Smiles

Adele xxx

Launch Party

2010-09-06T14:24:00.000+10:00

Thought I'd share a couple of photo's with you from our Launch Party on Saturday Night - though we were few in numbers it was really nice to being able to talk 'stamp' for a little while, and goo and gah over the new catalogue together - so thank you to all our lovely attendee's!

For some reason my photo's don't want to load today so there's only a few. Most of the cards you can see are Lisa's and hopefully we'll be able to see them up close and personal later on (hint hint Lisa! hehehe:)) Believe me - they were ALL AMAZING!!!!

Thanks for stopping by,

Smiles

Adele xxx

Greenhouse Gala

2010-09-03T13:04:00.002+10:00

I am IN LOVE with this paper and its matching stamp set - Friends Never Fade! They are both so so gorgeous, and I'm having so much fun playing with them, albeit frustrated fun because I just want the new colours that co-ordinate with the paper!!!! But I shouldn't complain should I....:)

Anyway, here are a few cards I've made using these two favourites...I have to admit most of these are almost complete CASEes as the mojo has been running very low...

This is the first card I've made today - and it doesn't use any new paper or colours but some old favourites - Old Olive and Rich Razzleberry. I found this card here and really liked its simplicity AND the fact that it uses 2 carry over colours rather then new ones...that helped me out a lot! :)

This card I found here which again attracted me by its simplicity. I don't have the same colours (I've used Chocolate Chip instead of Early Espresso) but I think the effect is the same...

And while I was working with that layout I decided to try some different colours and patterns and created this...

Now Baja Breeze is STILL one of my favourite colours and I really like all these colours together. LOVE that patterned paper...(didn't realise how very SAD that stupid little blue knot looks - will be fixing that!!!)

I have a few more to show you but might save them for a rainy day, or just another day!

Hope you're having a fabulous Friday and that you're making space in your diary so you can come to our FREE Catalogue Launch tomorrow night - it will lots of fun and one of the make and takes may include one of these cards??? :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Smiles

Adele xxx

Best Promotion Ever!!!!

2010-09-01T13:37:00.001+10:00

So with the new Catalogue Stampin' Up! have also revamped and improved the Starter Kit!!!! Not only is it cheaper (its now only $289 for over $400 value), for a limited time when you join by purchasing our Starter Kit you will recieve a pack of our new In Colours worth $84 absolutley FREE!!!!!! How amazing it that!!!! Almost wish I could join again :) :) :)

As we've said before, you don't have to be looking for a full on career as a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator...its totally up to you what level of committment you'd like to make. Some of us just do it to feed our own habit and reap the benefits of the Demonstrator discount of 20% which is a HUGE perk when you're as in love with the product as Lisa and I are...(wink wink)

If you have any questions, feel free to email myself or Lisa (our email can be found in the right-hand side bar)and we'd be happy to answer any and all of your questions!

Don't let this awesome promotion pass you by - its too good to last for long!!

Have the best day ever,

I promise to actually have some CRAFT for you to look at next time I post! :)

Smiles

Adele xxx

Its HERE!!!!

2010-09-01T13:25:00.000+10:00

The NEW CATALOGUE IS HERE!!!!! And yes, it DOES deserve all those capitals! I am so so excited - after so much anticipation and teasing etc etc it is finally LIVE and we can now share it with you...

I really hope you enjoy having a look through - I am MOST excited about the new colours - particularly the new In Colours and cannot wait to get my fingers onto them! Super super excited for our Launch Party this weekend now - its all feeling a little more real! (incidentally there are still spots available if you'd like to book in - come along and see what all the fuss is about! :)

How pretty is even just the cover!!!! You can click HERE for a link to take you to the actual catalogue, or have a look at the icon on the right side bar for a link there too.....

Happy happy browsing!!!! Email me if you just HAVE to have something - my own wish list is a MILE long for sure...:)

Smiles

Adele xxx

LAST CHANCE!!!

2010-08-31T10:43:00.000+10:00

Today is the FINAL day to be able to snaffle up some awesome retiring stamping bargains!!!!! There are some things hugely discounted - a number of stamp sets have been changed to 50% off and a great load of punches are now down to $15.95!!!! If you've been drooling over our awesome range of punches then now if the time to buy them - I don't think you'll ever see them at this price again!!!!

The List has been updated and further discounts have been applied to many many things so make sure you have a look. (look HERE)

If something catches your eye be sure to email me asap (adlewiess@yahoo.com.au) by COB today - today is the LAST DAY and orders need to go through tonight...

Happy browsing, I'm thinking I may just need to readjust my orders and grab some of these bargains myself...:)

PS: Don't forget to book in to our FREE Catalogue Launch Party this Saturday night, 7pm at my house! We still have a few seats left so if you're interested in seeing and playing with some of the awesome (AWESOME) new things in the NEW Catalogue then be sure to reserve your seat. Both Lisa and I will running this event so be sure you come along for lots of make-and-takes, door prizes and samples...

Really hope to see you there,

Smiles

Adele xxx

And the Winner is....

2010-08-27T18:50:00.000+10:00

Thank you to everyone who took part in our 100th Post competition, it was great to hear your comments. So we wrote everyone's names down and did a random draw...and the winner is.....

Dianne!!!

Now all you have to do is let us know if you would like a new Catalogue and Idea Book or a classic stamp pad (in your choice of colour). Once you let us know we can get your prize to you.

Don't forget we have our launch coming up and you need to book in to secure a spot. There will be make and takes using our new products and colours (free of charge), lots of samples to give you many ideas, you can purchase a new Catalogue ($12), and we will have some more retiring products along with continuing products on sale at bargain prices!!! Those who come will also go into 4 draws to win some lovely prize packs!!!

Can't wait to see you all there...

Love Lisa and Adele xxx

Stamp-a-Stack Class Cards

2010-08-24T11:43:00.000+10:00

Its time for another Stamp-a-Stack - Friday 27th August, 7.30pm start. Just popping on to show you the cards we'll be making... It seems we've had a bit of a baby boom here the last month or so, so I thought it might be helpful to have a few baby cards on hand since I haven't had ANY!!! :)

We will be doing this simple design in either the blue, pink, yellow or green - you can decide on the night. We'll probably add a little bit of ribbon around the patterned paper panel...

This card can also be done in either pink or blue, green or yellow, so you should come away with a pretty versatile set of cards. We'll be using the Nursery Necessities Retiring stamp set, as well as the Fox & Friends Clear stamp set, both of which are super super cute.

Date:       Friday 27th August (this Friday night)
Time:       7.30pm start
Place:      My house    for those of you who know where that is, or if you don't just send me an email and I can give you the address details.

COST:   $20 to make 8 cards with inserts (envelopes can be purchased for an additional $5)

Payment does need to be paid prior to class in order to secure your seat - again, b-pay/direct debit details will be given on reciept of booking email (adlewiess@yahoo.com.au)

Hope to see LOTS of you there!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by,

Smiles

Adele xxx

100th POST!!!!

2010-08-24T10:32:00.002+10:00

Well, we've reached the 100th post!!!!! Can you believe it!!! I can't - but I'm very excited! So - in celebration and as a thank-you to our faithful 'followers' we're offering some BLOG CANDY!!!!! We thought it might be exciting to offer either a CLASSIC INK STAMP PAD of your choice (you can even choose one of the exciting NEW colours that are coming) or a brand new copy of the NEW IDEA & CATALOGUE BOOK - whichever of these two you like!

All you have to do is leave a comment telling us what you're favourite past post or project is (from our blog of course!?!! :)). We'll do a random draw and announce the winner on Friday 27th at 7.00pm - that's this coming Friday! Demonstrators are welcome to comment too! :)

So if you're new to our blog, go ahead and have a browse and choose a favourite, or if you're a regular just jot down something that (hopefully) caught your fancy! Looking forward to reading your comments for your chance to WIN!!!!

This is probably a great chance to THANK all of our faithful commentor's and readers - we SOOOO appreciate all your lovely positive comments - it truly makes our day and we LOVE to be able to share our love of stamping and card making and crafting with you...it truly makes life more enjoyable. So thank you and please keep coming - we love to hear from you! xxx

Good luck with the draw - we'll announce here on our blog Friday night who the winner is....

Lots of hugs and smiles

Lisa and Adele xxx

More Blocks

2010-08-19T21:00:00.001+10:00

I've been working on some new blocks to showcase/sell at our up and coming Open House (this Saturday!!!!!! Really hope to see lots and lots of you!! :)). I LOVE these blocks - at first I thought they were too small, but I've since come to think they're really great for that subtle statement in the loungeroom, on the book shelf or the nursery.

These are 4x4 cm each block so quite small, but when placed out to spell a word they make quite the statement. I've used some of my most favourite papers of all time - the 'SWEET' and 'HOME' blocks use paper from the local scrapbooking store, but the 'DREAM' uses Baja Breeze DSP (soon to retire in this form) and the 'FAMILY' blocks (which are my FAVOURITE and are going in my living room if no one wants to buy them!!!!!) use some DELICIOUS new paper from the NEW catalogue! So excited!!!!

Hope you enjoy looking at these little blocks - if you have a go at doing your own be sure to send me a picture and I'll add it to this post so everyone can see your creativity!

Smiles

Adele xxx

New Projects

2010-08-19T18:28:00.001+10:00

Finally I have a couple of things to show you....

The first are two cards that I made when I visited a very special friend in Melbourne. I was lucky enough to have a weekend away from the family and spend them shopping and eating (lots and lots of good eating) in Melbourne with some friends that have moved there - we had planned to spend much more time crafting then we actually got to, so next time I think we'll just have to stamp stamp stamp the whole time and leave the shops (and our wallets) behind! :)

Anyway, these are the two cards we came up with...

This first design is completely inspired by a similar card in the NEW Idea & Catalogue book! (Can I say I am SUPER excited about the new catalogue and can't WAIT to share it with you all come September 1st). I was doing it from memory though so there are a few changes...basically versamarked Vintage Vogue flowers on the background, and then used the bird punch and leaves etc. The flower is the smallest from the Vintage Vogue set cut out and layered then scrunched a little??? The sentiments are from an old set my friend had in her stash...

This second card came about from lack of DSP - I hadn't taken any with me due to luggage restraints and so thought we'd make our own. I really really love these colours together (Rose Red and Old Olive) and can't wait to use them more. The flower is made from punching 3 out of CS, totally scrunching it up in your hand and then threading a button through all 3. Love it. This wasn't an actual Stampin' Up! one but I am super super glad it may/is making its debuet in the new catalogue!!! YAY!!!!

Anyways, super simple cards but I still like? Will definitely be back with more soon.

Thanks for stopping by,

Smiles

Adele xxx

New Class Dates

2010-08-05T17:32:00.002+10:00

Saturday 21st August
Open House - @ Lisa's - RSVP by eamil would be appreciated
(adlewiess@yahoo.com.au; lisajguy@yahoo.com.au)
2.00 - 4.00pm
Address will be given once rsvp is recieved
This is a FREE event - will include make-and-takes, sneak peeks at the new catalogue, LOADS of door prizes and draws as well as 'For Sale' items, including cards, retired stamp sets, etc etc...

Friday 27th August
Stamp-a-Stack
7.30pm
Cost: $20 to make 8 cards

Saturday 4th September
LAUNCH PARTY
7.30pm
FREE EVENT - Booking essential - (adlewiess@yahoo.com.au, lisajguy@yahoo.com.au)
This is where we will be unveiling the NEW CATALOGUE and you get to have a play with some of the new stamps on offer
Make-and-takes, door prizes, stacks of samples
New catalogues will be available for purchase this night as well

Saturday 18th September
Project Class - Notebooks
7.30pm
Cost: $20

Saturday 2nd October
Technique Class - Embossing
7.30pm
Cost: $15

Saturday 16th October
Stamp-a-Stack
7.30pm
Cost: $20 to make 8 cards

Saturday 30th October
Project Class - Frames
7.30pm
Cost: $20

Saturday 13th November
Stamp-a-Stack
7.30pm
Cost: $20 to make 8 cards

Saturday 27th November
Project Class - Blocks (Christmas Theme)
7.30pm
Cost: TBC

If you live in the Brisbane area and would like to book in to any of these classes please email Lisa or myself on the above emails or leave a comment below. We will post more photo's closer to each of these dates to show you an idea of what we will be making in each class so keep checking...

Can't wait to share these classes with you - so excited!!!

Hope to see you there!

Smiles

Adele xxx

OPEN HOUSE!!!!

2010-08-03T16:10:00.000+10:00

So Lisa and I will be hosting our very own OPEN HOUSE this month!!!!!!!

DATE: Saturday 21st AUGUST

TIME: 2-4pm

As we're saying goodbye to our Autumn Mini and current catalogue we thought it would be a fantastic opportunity to have a little get-to-gether to allow you all a last chance to make any purchases you might like to make. We will be having STACKS of give-a-ways on the day, a number of make-and-takes (FREE things to make and then take!) and lots and lots of examples of cards and craft items that you can make using Stampin' Up!'s brilliant products! There will also be sneak peeks of items available in the BRAND NEW CATALOGUE being released in September!!! SO MUCH EXCITEMENT!!!

This wont be a sit down event (except when you're doing your make and takes), rather a wander-about-and-have-a-look event, so you don't have to block out the whole 2 hours if you don't like - feel VERY free to just pop in and see if there's anything that tickles your fancy!

So be sure to bring along some spare cash if you think you might be interested in purchasing any of our sale stamp sets, inks, accesories as well as cards and frames and anything else we might have made for the day!!

If you are in the Brisbane area and are interested in attending please RSVP by emailing me on adlewiess@yahoo.com.au, or Lisa on lisajguy@yahoo.com.au and we will send you the address.

Thanks for stopping by,

Really hope to see you there!!!

Smiles

Adele xxx

All A Flutter

2010-08-03T10:04:00.000+10:00

This is another gift set I had fun making!!!! I found these gorgeous tins at a shop and just knew they'd be perfect to hold some little notelets in, so I got to work figuring some out.

Now these cards did take a little (LOT) of tweaking!!!! I couldn't quite figure out how to get the effects I was after, but I did get there in the end. It was really very simple - all I needed to do was create a mask to cover my butterfly and then sponge around the centre of the background stamp to create the softer edges around the butterfly, but it DID take a few attempts to get there - hehehehhe. I am really happy with the result though...I've then used my blender pen to add colour to the small flowers (from the Vintage Vogue flourish stamp) and the butterfly. Do really need to buy some Brown Stazon ink though for this sort of thing - the outlines of my butterfly's did bleed a little, but only if you look really really close!!!! :)

I was so tempted to keep those tins for myself - I LOVED them, but it feels really good giving something away you really really like! I just hope the gift-ee liked them as much!!! :) :) :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Don't forget to check out the Last Chance List for your last chance to get a number of retiring product!!!!

Smiles

Adele xxx

Chipboard Top Note Booklet

2010-08-03T09:48:00.001+10:00

Old title I know but very apt!!!! I have a couple more gifts to show you today - these were both for super special people who mean a lot to me - needless to say I had a BLAST making them!!!

Unfortunatley, for this first project I haven't used Stampin' Up! product much - I did use the bigshot, some ribbon, the Scallop Circle Punch and the Stampin' Up! Glue Stick, but other then that the paper is from K&Company and the embellishments from the local scrapbooking and craft store...

And this is the matching card...I did use Kraft as my base....

The 'Friend' panel is from the Vintage Vogue stamp set, and the small flowers are actually the Blossoms Three punch layered up with a stick-on jewel in the centre - they are very cute.

These top note die books are very easy to make - I've just purchased some chipboard sheets from the local scrapbook store and cut them out on the bigshot with the die and presto, you have your very own littl book to cover and decorate as you will! Love it!

Smiles

Adele xxx

LAST CHANCE LIST

2010-08-01T11:29:00.001+10:00

Hello lovely people - as some of you may know the new Stampin' Up! Catalogue is just around the corner!!!! It is released September this year and it is very exciting!!!! But in preparation for this awesome event Stampin' Up! have prepared a list of retiring product that won't be appearing in the new catalogue. This is a great opportunity for this month only to buy any of the stamps, punches and accesories on this list before we say goodbye to them for good, and some at a DISCOUNTED PRICE!!! (we all love a bargain right!!!).

If you'd like to see a complete list of retiring product you can link to it HERE and have a good look for yourselves!!!

Ok - I'm off with my good old highlighter to have a look myself! :)

Talk again soon!
Smiles

Adele xxx