Wonderfully Wicked Wednesday #1

Hello and Welcome to WWW: Wonderfully Wicked Wednesday!!!
<-- part of the press pack released art/photo One of the fondest memories I have of time spent with my mother was watching the television broadcast of The Wizard of Oz whenever it was on. So, when the Wicked musical came out I just knew I had to see it. My mother passed many years ago, but I thought of her when I went to see it with two of my closest friends. I absolutely loved the musical!

I enjoyed it so much that when Max asked me to come up with an idea for a challenge, I fused the two of these together to form Wonderfully Wicked Wednesday aka WWW. The concept is that each month there will be a different theme/concept. Some will be color challenges, some inspiration challenges and some might be an element or lyric from one of the musicals for interpretation. I do hope everyone will enjoy this challenge!The theme for March is a color challenge using any shade of purple, green, black and a neutral. Here is what our talented Divas have come up with for this first week.

I had to start mine off with using the Wicked Cool set. I do promise to not use this set all the time even if it is one of my favorites.

Leslie Banks


Sarah Miller

Michelle Montague

I think Sarah and Michelle did a fabulous job of capturing the theme. I can't wait to see what they come up with next week using the same color scheme! I would also like to mention that Brandy Cox (MDS Monday Blog Coordinator) will be joining the team on a monthly basis (more frequently if she can). Thanks to Sarah, Michelle and Brandy!

Now that you know what this challenge is all about, let Max or I know if you would like to participate on the Design Team as we still have a few openings!
Have a WICKED Wednesday :)
Leslie

Christmas Trio

Well today its chilly here again - its just 44°F as I type - well thats outside and I'm glad some kind person invented the heater!

When I think of Christmas I think hot sweltering sun with soaring temperatures as our Christmas is in the middle of our summer - so as you can imagine its a rather lazy day doing as little as possible.

We traditionally have cold meats and salads for Christmas lunch and something quick and easy for Christmas Dinner. I cant imagine having the oven on for hours to cook Turkey, Pork or Hams with all the trimmings on Christmas Day.

I know when its Christmas in USA and Canada you are in your winter and rugging up as warm as possible and having lots of yummy warm foods and drinks. I love the thought of gathering around the fire to keep warm and give Christmas gifts. I suppose you dont want to know that Christmas is just 19 weeks away?

If youre anything like me you leave things like Christmas Cards and such to the last moment. Well this year I'm making a big effort to get a heap of cards done before December hits so I thought I'd share some cards with you that we will be making at Stamp A Stacks between now and December.

This trio is done using Festive Favourites - a set thats been around for a while but one I've just bought.

I love the natural/earthy feel the Kraft Cardstock gives these cards and they are easy & fun to make.

This is another quick and simple card using the greeting from Many Merry Messages and the Snow Flurries set.

You could make a number of these and just change the colours used and do one in the blue like here and others in red, green, purple and any other colour you choose.

Now would be the perfect time for you to contact or local demonstrator and book your Stamp A Stack in. The Stamp A Stack is a lot of fun and its great to just sit, relax, stamp and spend some time with friends and take home a selection of cards to put aside for December.


This is the last card I'll share today and is a favourite of my customers. It too is very easy to make and the results are just wonderful.

Just use some trees from Lovely as a Tree, a greeting from Many Merry Messages and a sponge and you're done. Now you might wonder how I got the moon in there?

Just take your 1 1/4" circle punch and punch a circle from a post it note - but make sure you punch where the sticky part is so it stays on your card while sponging over the top to create the sky.

Have a great day and hope you liked these cards and can get your local demonstrator to do a Stamp A Stack for you - if not email me and I'll do it for you!!

You might just need to fly me to your house to do it though!

Always ..........

Welcome to another wintery Wednesday!


As I mentioned the last couple of weeks our Mini Spring Catalogue started on August 1.

I just love this new Mini as it has so many lovely new sets to choose from and ones that will appeal to all tastes and styles.

This card here is one I made using a lot of new things from the Mini - stamps, ribbon and wheel!

The background is the Its Beautiful jumbo wheel on Old Olive cardstock - a definite must for all collections! That wheel is amazing as it just brings any cardstock to life!

I stamped the bird in Close to Cocoa and embossed it in clear embossing powder. Then I coloured the pretty flowers & leaves using my Stampin Write markers and cut the birdie out.

The flower is from the pretties kit.

Which I've coloured using the Bashful Blue Classic Ink pad and aqua painter.

Once dry I've attached a half pearl from the Pretties kit.

I finished off the card using some very lovely Pomegranate wide Satin ribbon.

I do hope you like this card - I enjoyed making and sharing it with you and hope you take some time for yourself today and stamp - or just take some time and do what makes your heart smile!

Have a great day

There's a kind of hush .............

all over the Stampin' Up!® world!!

Some very lucky USA/Canadian demonstrators are enjoying the thrills and spills at Convention in Salt Lake City - it wasnt that long ago we had ours in April in Brisbane ... what an awesome experience it is to go and such a blessing to be able to go too!

I am sure all the Diva's will update us when they return - well after they all recover!! I doubt there is much sleeping happening at the Diva Convention House!

Today is the calm before the release of the Australian/New Zealand Spring Mini Catalogue and I tell you it will warm you up from the cold snap we are currently having!

One of the gorgeous new sets in our Mini will be the very noice True Friend stamp set - I just love this set and used it in a 6x6 Mini Catalogue Swap for our team. Here is the layout I made and do you see the resemblance in those two gals?? well they do happen to be sisters and one of them is ME!! You have to guess which one!! lol

I have made my own patterened paper using the True Friend set and some pastel popping! I've also used a flower from the pretties kit which I dyed to Bashful Blue to match the layout.

Keeping in the 'blue' theme I thought I'd also share this card I recently made for a challenge on an Aussie Demonstrator group.

This one is made using One of a Kind stamp set and the flower centres are from In the Spotlight which is a lovely Hostess Set. I've used Soft Sky, Pretting in Pink and Close to Cocoa.

If you are in Australia and would like your own copy of the Spring Mini Catalogue then please leave a comment including your email address and I will get in touch with you to send you one.

I hope you all have a great day and look forward to seeing some sharing from all thats being revealed at Convention!

Leonie

Blissful Book

Good Morning to all my bloggin' friends!

Well its morning on the Northern side of the globe - those down under should all be snoring just about now being that its 1am Thursday here and a chilly (and dark) 48°F !

I have been spending some time lately making up some cute little projects which my customers just love as much as I do and I do believe this is a good thing - well they keep booking classes so it must be!

Here is one I got from Splitcoast Stampers and its called a "Pull Out Scrapbook" and they are very easy to put together.

All the items I have used are available in Australia and the One of a Kind stamp set and Boho Blossoms Punch will be available August 1st from the new Mini Spring Catalogue!

Recipe:
Stamps: One of a Kind
Inks: Close to Cocoa, Whisper White Craft Ink, Purely Pomegranate
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Pretty in Pink, Purely Pomegranate, Berry Bliss Designer Series Papers
Accessories: 1/4" Pretty in Pink Grosgrain, 5/8" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain, Double Stitched Purely Pomegranate, Tag Punch, 1" circle punch, Boho Blossoms Punch, Sticky Strip, Photo Corner Punch.

These are great little books you could give as gifts as a brag book for the grandparents, book of quotes or encouragement notes for friends or just to record a special time or holiday.

The above picture shows the book at its first opening. You will see the ribbons on each side - these untie to reveal the 'pull out' part of the book.

The above images show the book open completely with 4 pages on each side and one side being a mirror of the other.

Now are you wondering how I made that star with the Designer Series Papers? well look closer ... its not really a star but using the Photo Corner Punch on all four corners and making them meet at the middle gives that star shape! Cool huh? that was thanks to another Stampin Up demo Patty Bennett (thanks Patty)

As you can see these make awesome little gifts and you could use them for anything at all.

You can find the tutorial for this great little scrapbook here

Have a totally blessed day!!

Leonie

G'day on a wet wintery day here in Sydney, Australia.

Its a wet and chilly 52F here as I type - not my favourite weather to say the least so I thought I'd share some lovely projects made by Design Diva Becky Teusink to brighten your day!

This gorgeous card is done using the Spring Break designer series papers, some hodge podge and Taffeta Ribbon. Here's a close up of a similar card using a different hodge podge frame and greeting.

Now I do believe that the Hodgepodge is on sale with a whoppin 25% discount in USA and Canada so check with your local demonstrator on how you can take advantage of this great bargain! Wish ours was discounted too as I really need another tin - oh and when your tin is empty why not decorate it and turn it into a gift for someone?

This card is just gorgeous and rather quick to make with just a couple of punches and a Stampin' Round Wheel and finish off with some ribbon.

How sweet is this envelope with just by using the circle punch?

have a great Wednesday everyone and see you next week

Leonie

Super Aussie Savings!!

Hello from Sydney on a lovely sunny winter day!

I just love it when Stampin' Up!® give us great specials to share with our customers and ways to help them enjoy Stampin' Up!® as a business.

This month during July and through to 15th August you can purchase the starter kit at the discounted price of just $299 - this means you get over $550 value in the kit for a small investment.

I joined Stampin' Up!® in August 2006 and at the time thought well the kit is good value in itself so it wouldnt matter if nothing eventuated with the business.

Now I have been with Party Plan companies before and it ended up costing me money instead of giving me a little extra to spend so was a little unsure how well Stampin' Up!® would go for me.

How wrong was I??

Stampin' Up!® has done nothing but bless me with my own wonderful team of ladies who also have blessed me with friendship and support. I have grown in myself through doing demonstrations and my stamping has also improved and I no longer stress about sharing this wonderful company and all it has to offer with people I meet.

I was asked back in November 2007 to do a workshop wow at the Regional Training day in Sydney. Now after picking myself up off the floor I agreed I would and I dont think I have ever been so nervous in my whole life - not even when I got married. Now if you told me two years ago that I'd be up on stage in front of some 200 other demonstrators with me showing them a technique I would have laughed till I cried but I will say its been one of the best things I've ever done. It was such an awesome experience.

I have also had the awesome pleasure to meet Shelli Gardner not once but twice at the two conventions held here in Australia.

This photo here was taken at the awards dinner where I received a recruiting award.

The whole experience with Stampin' Up!® and with all it has brought into my life has been more than I could have ever dreamt! That also includes meeting all the lovely demonstrators who are part of the Diva's group!

Please dont hesitate to contact me or any of the other Aussie Diva's if you would like more information on joining this wonderful company.

Have a blessed day ..... Leonie

Something Fresh

G'day from a sunny Sydney although being Winter we are getting some rather chilly weather - especially at night.

Its with great pleasure that I share you a project today done by the lovely Andrea Walford and I just love what she's done with the lovely Fresh Cuts set.

I so wish we had this set here in Australia but maybe they will include it in our Summer Mini Catalogue due out in August. Well one can live in hope!

Isn't this card just divine? I love the softness of the celery and white with the Kraft cardstock.

The recipe is as follows:

Stamps: Fresh Cuts stamp set
Ink: Whisper White Craft, Basic Black, Certainly Celery Ink
Paper: Kraft, Certainly Celery
Accessories: white Embossing Powder, embossing buddy, heat tool, Pretties kit, circle rhinestone brads, wide celery grosgrain ribbon, sponge, ticket corner punch, 1/8" circle punch, stampin' dimensionals.

Directions and Dimensions:

1. Take a 4 1/4" x 11" piece of Kraft Cardstock, score at 5 1/2" and fold.
2. Stamp the greeting from the Fresh Cuts stamp set in basic black ink on the bottom right of the card.
3. Using the Direct To Paper technique, rub white craft ink along the edges of the card.
4. Rub your embossing buddy over a 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" piece of Kraft Cardstock. Stamp the background image from Fresh Cuts in Whisper White Craft ink onto the Cardstock. Sprinkle on white Embossing Powder, heat with heat tool, trim to about 3" x 3 1/4", Use the ticket corner punch on all 4 corners.
5. Use a ticket corner punch on a piece of Certainly Celery Cardstock 3 1/4" x 3 1/2", then mat the embossed image onto this piece.
6. Sponge a flower from the Pretties kit in certainly celery ink. Add the small white flower to the center. Punch a hole using the 1/8" circle punch onto the bottom corner of the matted image, and mount to the flower using a medium sized celery rhinestone brad.
7. Mount the whole matted image (with flower) to the card front using a Stampin' Dimensional in each corner.
8. Tie a 15" piece of wide Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon in a knot around the card, with the knot adjusted slightly towards the left.

Congratulations ~ You're done!

Thanks so much Andrea for sharing this gorgeous card with us!

Have a totally blessed day ... Leonie

A Pocket full o’ eScape

I must apologise for this late post - I've had networking connection issues and after a stressful phone call with hubby at work we have 'patched' it for now!

Its with great pleasure I share with you a project that Design Diva Becky Roberts created for her eScape project. I sure wish I lived in Idaho so I could go make this set at her event!!

Becky has made this gorgeous little set using the eScape bundle available in USA – now remember each country has their own bundles so check with your demonstrator to see what is available in your area – ask her for the details of a local event for you to go along to and enjoy the 'e'Scape!

Here is the set ... isn't it gorgeous?

For this project you will need

• Rose Red, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla Cardstock
• Circle of Friendship Stamp Set
• Little Pieces Stamp Set
• Wide Vanilla Grosgrain ribbon
• Rose Red Ink Pad
• Brads
• Circle ( 1/2 " 1" and 1 ¼") and Designer Label Punches
  

Cards:

3"x 6" Rose Red cardstock. Score at 3" and ¾". Fold on score lines and cut 1/8" off the flap. It needs to be shortened a bit so it doesn't interfere with the hole in the card. Use the 1 ¼" circle punch to put a hole in the card. (Try to centre it about 3/8" from the edge and the bottom of the card).

Stamp with Rose Red using Little Pieces and use the corner rounder on the top corners. Fold the wide Very Vanilla Grosgrain in half and tie around the pocket card to hold closed.

Insert pieces:

Very Vanilla 2 ½" x 2 9/16
Chocolate Chip 2 5/8" x 2 11/16"

Stamp Very Vanilla piece with Rose Red, stamped off once so it isn't so bright, with Little Pieces. Stamp Circle of Friendship with Rose Red on Very Vanilla and use 1" punch. Stamp again with Basic Black on Rose Red cardstock. Punch out centre with ½" punch and the outside with 1" punch. Fold the ring over and that is the topper for the ribbon on the top of the cards. Attach the centre with a Stampin' Dimensional. I mounted the Circle of Friendship on a 1 ¼" Chocolate Chip circle.

Card Holder:

Rose Red cardstock is 5" x 8". Score spine at 3 ½" and 4 ½". Score flaps up at 1" and 1 ½". Fold on all score lines and decorate as desired.

Thanks Becky for sharing this wonderful project!

Stampin' Up! Convention - Brisbane Australia - Totally Awesome!

All I can say is WOW!! What a Weekend! Convention went for 2 days but I had 4 wonderful days!

It started with meeting Maggie and her entourage at the airport on Thursday afternoon and we all jumped into a maxi-cab and made our way to our apartments we were staying in - talk about loverly! Only drawback was we were on the top floor and there was NO lift .. ugh .. my body reminded me every time I went up an down those stairs that I have fibromyalgia and that my knees didn't like those stairs!

I do hope you like Maggie's shirt here and I'm thinking I might need to get me one too!

Friday morning started with check-in and Memento Mall and you do have to go spend here right - its like a pre-requisite for convention isn't it and all the lovely goodies inside.

I got some magnets which I'll use as hostess thank you's and the like, a mini catalogue bag (which also doubles as a swap bag) and 3 loverly new insulated coffee mugs. They have a stainless steel rim and do keep your coffee warm for ages. Now why 3 you say? well one to use, another to use when the first one is dirty and you always need a spare one right?? You'd never guess I love my coffee would you???

You can see the magnets & coffee cup here in this picture. It also shows the stamp sets I came home with ... what a stash! Fast & Fun Notes and the Happiness Background were in our lovely blue convention bags. Those attending the Leadership session also received the Garden Whimsy set. I won (yippee) the Fabulous Flowers in the Prize Patrol - so very happy about that as my name wasn't called last year.

The Short & Sweet set was part of my recruiting award and here I am getting my award.

Shelli is such a lady full of grace. In her opening she talked about 'dreaming' and the theme of the convention was Dream Big. An email was sent out to random demonstrators prior to convention asking for their SU stories and how SU has changed their lives or how it has impacted on them. Well I sent my story back and I shared more than I normally do. I mention about the Bank Robbery I was in and about losing our little baby Daniel and she shared all this. I wasn't told she was going to use any of my story so I was a little unprepared for what was about to be said as I dont tell everyone about these things in my life. Well after her talk there were a few tears shed (and not all were mine!) and I had a lot of friends come up and hug me and one of them was Bernadette from our Demo Support and I told her it would have been nice to be forewarned. Apparently she mentioned this to Shelli and when I did go and say hello to her she gave me the biggest hug and apologised profusely for not letting me know and thanked me for being so open and sharing so much.

We had sessions led by Pam Morgan, Linda Hansen, Carrie Cudrey, Bernadette Gamo and Shannon West. We also had the general sessions run by Shelli and Aaron Scott and Shelli also had a demonstration for us. I could just sit and watch Shelli, Pam and Linda for days!

We also had a great time doing the make and takes. Here you can see the finished products with the forever scrap booking layout, gift box, water coloured note cards and the friend card.

I am a little sad that its all over so quickly but know I have come away with a lot of ideas I can implement in my business and hopefully some will improve what I already do.

I also know that its a lot of money to spend on two days but it really is sooooo very worth every penny! You not only bring home a bag of loot and some great ideas to share and implement but also with alot of new friends who share the same passion you do. I really did enjoy this year's convention more so than last year - maybe a little of that is because I didnt know what to expect last year and this year I had more of an idea of the format and such.

After the Awards dinner on the Saturday night my brother picked me up from the city and took me back to his place and I got to spend a nice relaxing day with him and his family - something that I normally wouldn't have the chance to do.

I am feeling rather blessed with all the friends I have met through Stampin' Up! and I dont doubt for a moment that God has had a very big hand in all of this. I have grown so much since joining Stampin' Up! and my stamping has developed as has my scrapping and I have all these Diva friends as well - life is good and it really doesnt hurt to "Dream Big!"

Pat in the Box!

Welcome to another Wednesday!!

Today I'd like to introduce you to a lovely Diva from Utah - Pat Washburn.

When I first joined Utah Divas International Pat was one of the first to email me privately and welcome me to the Diva's. She has since been there for me when I needed help and over the past few months I have been struggling with lots of headaches and she offered to help me with some aromatherapy which I truly appreciate.

One thing I love about being part of the Diva's is the fact that we are just not online acquaintances but we become good friends and family to each other.

Here is Pat's intro ....

Hi, my name is Pat Washburn. I am one of the really lucky Divas. I live in Riverton, Utah just 1/2 mile from Max! I was so fortunate to choose Max as my Demo when I moved here from Kentucky 2 1/2 years ago. I have loved knowing her and became a Demo under her last May.

I will celebrate 40 years of marriage to a wonderful man (David) the end of March. We have 6 great children and 5 wonderful in-law children (our youngest is not married yet) who have given us 15 fabulous grand children - with one more due the end of May. I am lucky enough to live near ten of those sweet little people (the oldest here is 7yrs the youngest is 7 months).

I was introduced to Stampin' Up! way back when they started, but I never caught the "bug" until about 8 years ago when I moved to Kentucky for my husband's job. I fell in with a great group of "addicts" who got me "hooked" big time. I now feel deprived if I can't stamp at least an hour a day (and usually more - we are now retired). I have fallen in love with all kinds of paper crafting and love making stamped gifts like the box of gift cards shown here.

Thanks for looking and for being the great group of support you are for this "unrepentant addict!"

Here are some more boxes that Pat shared with me and I think they are just too nice not to share them with you! Pat got the idea from one Split Coast Stamper made by Sharon Johnson.


Tied Baskets

2 pieces of DS Paper 3" X 9" long

-Score paper at 3/4", 3", 6" and 8 1/4" (or 3/4" and 3" from each end)
- Fold the 3" score marks so that the side of the paper you want on the inside of the basket are facing.
- Fold the 3/4" flaps the opposite way (toward the outside of the basket).
- Punch holes and insert eyelets at the 4 corners of each piece centered on the folded flap
- Apply adhesive to the bottom of one piece and adhere it to the inside of the other piece at right angles to form a + shape.
- Stamp or decorate sides as desired (I left mine plain)
- Fold sides up and thread ribbon through eyelets at each corner.
- Tie ribbons at corners.

These can be made larger and used as centerpieces. Then untied and stored flat for later use

Arent they just gorgeous?? I hope you like what Pat shared with us - I know I did as I'm off to make some of these boxes now!

Have a great day and may all your weeds be wildflowers!

Leonie from Australia