RETIREMENT TIME!!!!!

the time is here again for our annual Retirement List sale. Remember that these products may sell out before the end of June so don't wait to place your orders. Contact me TODAY to place your orders, julia.leece@vodafone.co.nz or call 09 415 6466.

HERE is the stamp retirement list

HERE is the accessories retirement list

my convention sample

at convention (and many Stampin' Up! events) we do 'swaps' - you make say 20 and swap with 20 people so you end up with a variety of samples that you can show customers. Good to show 'other' techniques that you haven't done or styles you may not of done. I didn't 'do' swaps this time - I did make 50 bag tags that I gave to everyone under my upline as 'gifts' and some amazing ladies still insisted that I have one of their swaps which was wonderful! But I did do two cards (exactly the same) - one for the display boards and one for a card donation box we had for raising funds for the Ronald McDonald House Charities. One of the cool things that Stampin' Up! do is support many charities and this year in our new Stampin' Up! catalogue (going LIVE on 1st July 2013) have a stamp set that from every set sold (and it's a cute as set!!!) $3.50 (NZ) go to this charity. Also I have signed up to volunteer and help out at the Auckland house. I love how the company likes to 'give back' or as it's called now 'pass it forward'.

ANYWAY I did forget to take a picture of my sample other than the one on the stand so squint your eyes and you might get the idea! lol  

ps - thanks Narelle for the better pic!! lol

A great start to the awesome experience that is Stampin' Up! Convention

it all started with a fabulous "Leadership" day. For the afternoon we had some great classes for those of us who are Managers or above then followed with a LOVELY dinner. Yes everyone's name was up in lights - but it took awhile to snap my name! lol

Now as I'm gluten free I had different dessert (above) than everyone else (below) - and it was yummy too!

 and YES chocolates!!!

this is the cool conventional bag they gave all 700 attendees! My daughter has already claimed it as hers for school!

the theme of the event was 'a night with the stars' and our gift was this very cool film canister tin. Inside was a cute stamp set that will come out in the new upcoming catty. shhhhhhh I'm not spoiling any surprises for people! 

BUT.....

while we are talking about the lovely Stampin' Up! products tomorrow (30 May 2013) is the very LAST day you can get this amazing deal. Email me NOW - or even do it directly on line thru my DBWS site - available HERE

I'm away on holiday!!!!

tomorrow I fly to Australia for a few days in the Gold Coast before heading up to Brisbane for Stampin' Up!'s annual convention. I am SO excited about it!!! SO I have been busy getting stuff for it etc and so I haven't been crafting so I have nothing to share with you at the mo.
I may be able to access my blog from there and if I can I will try and post something. Meanwhile you can STILL SHOP using my online 24/7 shop - see top left window!.
Products will be sent directly to you too!!!
So see you in 11 days if not before!!! xx

Pretty Pockets

On Monday Dee Sturgeon taught us this double pocket card on Crafters Anonymous. To create one of the pockets I used the DSP from the This and That bundle and cut around the images on it. The other pocket I made by cutting around a stamped and heat embossed image. The green is Gumball Green - I thought I would use it up as it's one of the colours that is going come 1st July!!

3 Cheers For You!

Another card using the same card map as yesterday - this one is for yet another family birthday - my eldest brother. We do have a stretch of birthday which finally finishes on Thursday! Other than my daughter I have all my 'blood' families birthdays in two weeks!!! So pleased it's over hee hee. I think my bank manager would probably agree too!

This one is made using the Ticket Due Builder punch and a couple of small oval and circle punches for the handle. I hope my brother enjoys it!

Red wine anyone??

this card is a card I made for my brother who's birthday was at the end of last month. He LOVES his red wine and so I thought I would match his card to that. I used Bravo Burgundy and Always Artichoke along with Very Vanilla. Bravo Burgundy is one of the colours that is going with our Colour Refresh and so after 30 June it won't be seen again! 

The 'map' of this card I cased DIRECTLY from a swap I received from Delys Cram. It is such a neat map that you can work so many ways. It's PERFECT for a good structured masculine card. 

Hope you all had a lovely mothers day yesterday! I got spoiled with brekkie in bed, a bit of shopping with daughter, got my car cleaned by son and they both cooked dinner so a very nice day indeed! Below is a pic of my two babes - taken last year in during our holiday in Cairns. They don't often appear in the same photo - he still thinks you can get germs your his sister so gives her a wide birth usually! hehe 

spot the pleat

Here is the second Mothers Day card I made, this is for my mother-in-law. I enjoyed doing these pleats - they are done with a 5/8" & 1/4" pattern. You do need to add some extra DSP to the strip as a 12" strip won't do the whole card. I really like this Calypso Coral colour and are so pleased it's staying around!! Funny they've put it in 'subtles' group but hey as long as it stays! lol Personally I would of preferred Lucky Limeade to stay rather than bringing back Pear Pizzazz but who can't please everyone all of the time!  I have posted the list of the new colours - if you LOVE some of the colours that are retiring you BETTER get in real QUICK to order you supplies as some of the products in those colours have already run out!!! email julia.leece@vodafone.co.nz

Pleated Mothers Day Card

On Monday night Kristine McNickle taught this pleated card at our Crafters Anonymous class. I decided that it would make a great Mothers Day card. I have made two, so I will show you the other one tomorrow. I'm racing out the door but hopefully you can see the details on the photos.

world's greatest friend

Whilst this is the last of the chalkboard cards to share it was the first one I made. It was LOTS of fun to make and pick what stamps I wanted to use. I really enjoyed the free hand drawing around the sides too, as Miranda's mum would say 'such fun'!!!

chalkboard easel card

Here is another chalkboard/blackboard card but this is made to look like an easel. I did a similar card earlier in the year for a team swap but forgot to take a photo of it - doh! I am teaching this card to my monthly Manurewa class this Friday. I use the Tea for Two DSP for the colours on the banner and the little punch that was a freebee with Sale-a-bration this year that you can now order. 

One more chalkboard card tomorrow! 

black board fun

A wee while ago someone started this black board or chalk board art fad and of cause like most 'trends' card makers pick it up! And then someone added the banners (another BIG trend) and we can see a LOT of these types of cards. SO my class ladies asked to make one. SO here are two samples - I call the first one a feminine one and the other a masculine one, just cause I can! lol
There are plenty of tutorials about the place on how to do it. I have another card tomorrow to show you on a slightly different version of it. I used the Tea for Two DSP which has some lovely small prints which work well for the banners. See you tomorrow :)

A little bit of cuteness

I haven't really played much with this since stamp set but isn't it just the cutest!! I coloured it with my aquapainter and stamp pads - I squeeze the stamp pad and it creates a little 'palette' of ink on the lid to pick up with the brush. I first stamped the image in versamark on to water colour card and then covered it in black embossing powder and heat set it. This helps to keep the colours within the lines and gives a nice crisp look. After I coloured it I used my markers to add some depth of colour to it. I kept the card simple with just a bow. 

more cake for anyone??

While I had the 'A Cherry on Top' stamp set out I made this black and white card with it. Again I used stazon directly on to window sheet (acetate). I used Summer Silhouettes stamp set for the bottom layer of the cake and Netting background stamp for the top layer. The cake stand has be embossed in black embossing powder to give it a posh look! This hostess set is due to retire when the catalogue retires (they never come back again!) which is at the end of next month so you will need to get in quick to score it!!!

Happy Birthday Mum

Today is my mum's birthday and this is the card I made for her. I used Glossy card stock for the background - I brayered a few colours on before embossing it. The 'Cherry on Top' hostess stamp set is so cool so I stamped the 'cover' with white stazon onto window sheet (aka acetate) and made a cake out of DSP for under it. My aim was for it to look like a plate on a table. Today at my class we had a little 'angel' party for her - complete with a pink cake, decorations etc - I forgot to take a photo of it all - the cake even had the number of years she is on it! lol One lady who was sitting across from mum thought she was only 47 - hee hee yeah right! lol wink wink

Don't forget all the great deals on during May with Stampin' Up! Did you get my email about it?? if not email me directly on julia.leece@vodafone.co.nz

THIS AND THAT - What's that about??

This and That is a new product range that Stampin' Up! have just released. To mark this new range there is a 15% off product bundle that will save you money! This is what Stampin' Up! have to say about it .....

Your life is: Awesome. Quirky. Exciting. Perfectly messy. And happening really fast. So we’re happy to introduce our newest product line that lets you capture it all on-the-go. This and That will debut in the 2013-2014 annual catalogue, but we’re giving you and everybody else the chance to get it now.

a closer look for you..

Contact me TODAY at julia.leece@vodafone.co.nz to order yours NOW!