Merry Christmas

I realise I haven't been posting this week but I have been very busy! Unfortunately it didn't involve ANY crafting! We have just bought a house which is conditional on us selling our house by the end of February so we have been doing stuff around the house getting it ready to sell etc. Isn't it funny how things that you have wanted done for AGES suddenly get done when you want to move! Go figure!
It also means we have to take down the Christmas tree and all the decorations on Boxing Day as we can't have the decorations in the photographs. Luckily I hadn't done any of the decorations - my daughter did it and she didn't go over board! One thing I did do was cleaned out my craft room (again!) lol I now have all the curtains open and it looks great! Pity I wont be able to have a play in for much! I will try and post anything I do get a chance to make! I will also keep you updated with how the sale of the house is going.

I would like to wish you all the best for this festive season. I hope you have the people who are special to you with you sometime over the next week or so, and that 2011 is a wonderful year for you. I would also like to thank all the wonderful people who leave lovely comments on my blog as they have often lifted me when I needed it the most! Also I want to acknowledge the amazing crafters who share their work for all of us to 'ooo' and 'aaaa' over, get inspired from and generally motivate us - we can only hope that one day we would be as talented as you are!!

Merry Christmas!

well we had to have a girl legs one too!!

so here she is. I am a BIG fan of RED shoes so that was what led this design. They are soooooo fun to make - I can't wait to make more hehe. This is Real Red and Whisper White, I used the small circle punch from the Itty Bitty punch pack in the new Summer Mini for the buttons and the 1 1/4" circle punch for the baubles on the shoes. The rest is just hand cut.
I got the inspiration to do these from a card I saw Valita Reynolds made - go check it out here

what a yummy set of elf legs!!

I have been having a ball playing with these skinny cello bags and when I saw these Christmas Jellybeans at The Warehouse today I knew straight away what I was going to do with them! Aren't they just a hoot! I freehand cut the shorts and the shoes from Garden Green cardstock and used my white gel pen to do stitching etc. Then using the Delightful Decorations stamp set I made the 'baubles' on the toes of the shoes from one of the little stamps - it says 'MERRY CHRISTMAS'. And just to finish off I used some of the scrummy ribbon from last months promotion.
Hope the silly season isn't stressing you out too much, I find shoppers are very grumpy at the mo which is such a shame as it is just a great time of year - esp. when there are funny things like these legs around!! Hope when you go shopping that the car park is calm and the till queues are short!

the rules of chocolate!!

this cool gift card box - yes it's a card that holds a king size bar of chocolate inside it! - was made by Sandra Mason who is my swap sister for the 12 days of Christmas over on Crafters Anonymous site. We had a theme for every day and yesterday was day three and the theme was 'something yummy' - well Sandra knew I am a CHOCOHOLIC so she created this cool card box. Inside are a list of the 'rules of chocolate' which I have typed out below - they are all PERFECT!! You would be surprised that the chocolate is currently in my fridge due to the hot weather (today it's 27oC here in Auckland with humidity ruining just below 100%!) and I haven't started on it - YET! lol tell me which one you like best!

here are the rules:

*1 if you've got melted chocolate on your hands then you're eating it too slowly!
*2 Chocolate covered raisins, cherries, orange slices, apricots & strawberries all count as fruit so eat as much as you want.
*3 Problem: How to get 2 pounds of chocolate home from the store in a hot car? Solution: Eat it all in the parking lot
*4 Diet Tip: Eat a chocolate bar before each meal. It will take the edge off your appetite and you'll eat less!
*5 a nice box of chocolates can provide your total daily intake of calories in one place - now isn't that handy!
*6 if you can't eat all of your chocolate, it will keep in the freezer, however - if you can't eat all of your chocolate at once there must be something wrong with you. Call your doctor!!
*7 if you eat an equal amount of dark chocolate and white chocolate, it's considered a balanced diet!
*8 exercise is a dirty word - every time you hear it wash your mouth out with chocolate!
*9 if not for chocolate there would be no need for control top pantyhose - an entire garment industry would be devastated - so eat more!
*10 there is no such organisation as Chocoholics Anonymous because no one wants to quit.
*11 put 'eat chocolate' at the top of your 'to do' list TODAY!! That way, you'll get at least one thing on your list done!!
*12 we aren't meant to deal with life alone - that's why God created chocolate - EAT HEARTY!!

gift tags

here is a pile of gift tags that I made to go on all the presents we are giving at Christmas. There are about 24 of them! I used Basic Black card stock and cut three cards from an A4 sheet. Folded them in half and embossed the front with the Petals-a-plenty Stampin' Up! Big Shot embossing folder. I then spritzed them with mainly silver but used some gold as well. I cut out the snow flakes with the Christmas die for the Big Shot and have coated them in Dazzling Diamonds and finshed with a stick on diamond (love these from Stampin' Up!). The stamp is from Season of Joy (stamped in Basic Black on Whisper White cards stock) and I used the scallop oval punch to punch it out. All very basic but effective I think. But I must say after making that many of them I got over them VERY quickly! lol

stamp sets for sale!

I still have a few stamp sets etc left from when the new Idea's Book and Catalogue came out in Spring. I can post to where ever and can accept cash (with collection only), bank transfer or credit card (Visa or Mastercard) so email me julia.leece@slingshot.co.nz if you can give one of these awesome sets a new home!

NAME WHERE FROM PRICE
All used to some degree (From IB & C 09-10 unless stated otherwise)
-Big Bold Birthday pg 42 $50 -
-Botanical Blooms IB & C 08-09 $20 -
-Occasionally pg 30 $40 -
-Spring Solitude IB & C 08-09 $20 -
-Party Punch IB & C 08-09 $20 -
-Good Friends pg 99 $35 -
-Frames with a Flourish pg 100 $60 -
-Be Happy IB & C 08-09 $25 -
New Items:
-Happy Moments - SAB 2010 $20
-Sweet Little Sentiments pg 18 $20
-Vintage Labels SAB 2010 $20
Designer Series Paper – unopened packets
Autumn Traditions Winter Mini 10 $10

reindeer noses

nothing us New Zealanders love more are Jaffa's!! These little orange candies with chocolate insides become even more special at Christmas as they turn into reindeer noses! These reindeer tubes are a fun gift to have for kids - of any ages. I used Soft Suede and the Owl punch to make the reindeer and the leaves from the bird punch for the antlers, one lot in Soft Suede and one in Chocolate Chip.

I hope you get to enjoy some of these red beauties some time during this holiday season!

Happy Birthday Bron

Tomorrow is my friend Bron's birthday - so this is the card I made just for her. Bron is a talented crafter and does clean crisp cards so well - so I thought I would try and have a go at her style (and her colours!). I used my much loved tri fold shutter card design and kept the colours to the current In Colours - Poppy Parade, Concord Crush & Blushing Bride. The DSP is the Hostess 6X6 paper pack. The sentiment is again from favourite set Word Play - YOU MUST GET THIS SET!! it's so useful! And as Bron is a star I had to include them in the card - using the star punch and the star stamp from the brand new set - Itty Bitty Bits.

So as you have seen all the birthday cards I've been making lately are you wishing it was your birthday? If you are like me and have months till it is your birthday - you should shout yourself a 'non birthday pressy'!! Either the awesome Word Play stamp set or maybe something from the awesome DECEMBER FRENZY sale. Email me julia.leece@slingshot.co.nz for more info.

and again HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRON!! xx

another birthday card!

we are going thru a run of birthdays at the moment - I had two on the weekend and today is my brothers partners birthday - you may remember the 'Jackie' card a few weeks ago. And then on Thursday my son's girlfriend Lisette has her 16th birthday. So today's card is her birthday card from us - she isn't a girly girl so no 'sweet 16 things' or flowers, or shoes or stuff like that. But I wanted a card that showed her strong personality and her desire to succeed. She is an amazing author so that's why I choose the DSP from the Naturals Family pack with the writing. Plus the sentiment is exactly what we would wish for her.

I used my favourite stamp set Word Play again - so loving that stamp, esp. when stamped in different colours. The colours on this is In Colour Pear Pizazz and Early Espresso, with Whisper White. The new embossing folder adds great texture to the card too, along with the Early Espresso thin ribbon and tiny pearls.

I could of done a 'Beatles' card as she is a big FAN bit that was going to be a huge challenge LOL

I have ANOTHER friends birthday on Thursday too so hopefully I can post her card on here tomorrow as I posted it to her today so she should get it tomorrow hee hee - can't have her seeing it on line before in real life! lol

special journals

these three books I made for my niece for Christmas. She's just turned 16 and loves writing and taking notes. I used the Speciality DSP Cocoa Christmas that was available only last month. I covered some heavy card with the DSP and then lined the back of the card with the paper I was using inside the book. Then I used the Bind-it-all to bind the sides on the big one and the top of the middles size one. For the round scallop one I used the Stampin' Up! Scallop Circle and the Big Shot machine. I put a heap of sheets thru at a time - which is the beauty of the Big Shot - up to 8 layers. I added a bit of taffeta ribbon in Real Red and they were nearly done.

On the round one I used the Tiny Tags set and the matching tag punch to just add the word 'friend' and on the middle one I used the Word Play set for the 'Imagine the possibility' embellishment. For the big one I wanted to the leave the outside plain, so she can use it for what ever she sees fit but I did put the stamp from Word Play 'go confidently in the direction of your dreams" as I thought it would be like a secret wish from me to her.

a little bit cheeky

Yesterday was my wedding anniversary. Craig and I have been married for 22 years now, wow how time flies! worked out that since I was 21 when we got married (oh no, just told you how old I am! hehe) I have been married longer than not married now!

Anyway, since my hubby has a great sense of humour and with me on steroids due to health issues I thought I would make him one of these bra cards. Aren't they just a hoot! I am sure one day many moons ago I might of looked like this but certainly don't now! lol And I don't have a tatoo either!

This idea has been going around the net for a while but I recently saw a card by Louise Hopman and was inspired to make one. Well actually I made 3 - two of my close friends have birthdays at this time, Yvonne who was one of my bridesmaid (and is husbands cousin) has her birthday today and Christine who is the first friend I made when I shifted from Gisborne to Auckland at 16 has her birthday tomorrow. So they got bra cards too! Here's a pic of Yvonne's card, but I forgot to take a picture of the one I gave Christine.

Don't forget to put your entry in for the ribbon I am giving away for the cards with wreaths on them. Add a comment to the thread below linking back to your wreath and you will be in the draw for the pile of ribbon!

Christmas Stick

Here is another sample of the skinny cello bags - this time a Christmas theme. I used the awesome WORD PLAY stamp set which is one of my favourites! Traditional colours of Garden Green and Riding Hood Red - I used the extra large circle punch and the circle die for the Stampin' Up! Big Shot for the outer two rings. I popped the bauble up on the word 'JOY' with a diamentional after I had added some colour with the Garden Green marker pen.

These would make awesome teachers gifts or small extras with cards for friends or even for kids to give each other. You could make them with names on as place settings/favours for Christmas dinner.

I have other lollies bagged up awaiting toppers - might be able to get them done today as instead of going out and visiting friends like planned I will have to spend the day at home with sick child who has been unwell all night! She is upset too as she was supposed to go on her 'big day out' end of year trip to Rainbows End today! Poor thing, a trip to the doctor is no where as exciting! Dad doesn't mind as he will take her to Rainbows End during the holidays - didn't take much convincing to do that! lol Some kids just never grow up!

Come back tomorrow to see the cool if not cheeky anniversary card I've made for my wonderful husband!

strips of yumminess!!

aren't these fun! I have been wanting to use my Make a Monster set for ages and so when I got these skinny cello bags I new it would be perfect. I used the Word Play set for the left one and the Lots of Bots set for the other. I tried to match the card stock to the colour of the M&Ms. These are all the lollies they had on one of those small bags of M&Ms except of all the red and green ones which I will show you tomorrow.

DON'T FORGET to check out the super December Frenzy promo which I have listed in the last post - and if you want to get things before Christmas you will need to contact me before next Tuesday to ensure you will have it in time! Don't forget I can also to vouchers so if your loved ones are wanting to get you Stampin' Up! products but not sure which ones then this is the thing for you. Just get them to email me julia.leece@slingshot.co.nz and I can sort it out for them, I can do credit card payments thru Paymate or Paypal too.

DECEMBER FRENZY SUPER SALE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can you believe these super specials Stampin' Up! has just released!!!! These are ONLY available till the 29th December so contact me TODAY!! julia.leece@slingshot.co.nz

Item Pg Description Retail Price Sale Price
119181 39 A Little Treat Wood-Mount Stamp Set $26.95 $13.48 -50% off
120018 39 A Little Treat Clear-Mount Stamp Set $21.95 $10.98 -50% off
119189 40 Tote-Ally Tess Wood-Mount Stamp Set $45.95 $32.17
111255 43 Daisy Dash Jumbo Stampin’ Around Wheel $19.50 $11.70
121482 56 Baby Bundle Wood-Mount Stamp Set $59.95 $41.95
119161 72 Autumn Days Wood-Mount Stamp Set $46.95 $23.48 - 50% off
120012 77 Pendant Park Clear-Mount Stamp Set $36.95 $18.48 - 50% off
113031 88 Tart & Tangy Wood-Mount Stamp Set $26.95 $18.87
115806 91 Fresh Cuts Wood-Mount Stamp Set $46.95 $32.87
115946 102 Wonderful Favorites Wood-Mount Stamp Set $47.95 $28.77
119167 104 Heard from the Heart Wood-Mount Stamp Set $46.95 $28.17
119185 105 Teeny Tiny Sentiments Wood-Mount Stamp Set $75.95 $37.98 -50% off
105115 118 Pumpkin Pie Stampin’ Write Marker $6.95 $4.17
105106 119 Certainly Celery Stampin’ Write Marker $6.95 $4.17
100045 119 Pretty in Pink Stampin’ Write Marker $6.95 $4.17
105114 119 So Saffron Stampin’ Write Marker $6.95 $4.17
105111 119 Bashful Blue Stampin’ Write Marker $6.95 $4.17
105108 119 Regal Rose Stampin’ Write Marker $6.95 $4.17
105109 120 Bravo Burgundy Stampin’ Write Marker $6.95 $4.17
100069 120 Night of Navy Stampin’ Write Marker $6.95 $4.17
100082 121 Basic Black Stampin’ Write Marker $6.95 $4.17
103104 122 Small Cello Bags $9.25 $5.55
111325 140 Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware $70.50 $35.25 - 50% off
112530 140 Circle Scissor Plus $67.95 $40.70
116681 161 Kind Heart Wood-Mount Stamp Set $14.50 $7.25 - 50% off

Wreath challenge

One of my clients came up with this idea for a wreath at today's class. She was at the other end of the table than me and I told her to use the bird punch to punch our the leaves, so she punched out what she thought were the leaves - but they were in fact the wings. But Vicky being Vicky wasn't going to let that small issue get in the way and she created this beautiful wreath card. Isn't it great! Just had to share.

So far that's 5 versions - my challenge to you is to come up with other wreath ideas! I have a prize for someone, all you need to do is post a comment on this post with a link back to your blog and we will do a random draw in two weeks 15 December 2010. The prize will be a ribbon sample pack -which will contain an assortment of wonderful lengths of the gorgeous Stampin' Up! ribbons. So get your thinking caps on and start creating! If you have already made one then that will qualify too, just link that post on the comment section too. This is open to anyone, I will post to any country.

I can't wait to see them!!

last but not least

Isn't it amazing how many different ways you can make wreaths? This one is using the Boho Flower punch and the red bits are the eyes from the Owl punch. The ribbon is the new thin taffeta ribbon in Real Red. To make the door I stamped the Soft Suede with the Woodgrain stamp then scored it at 1.5cm intervals and in the scores I used the Soft Suede marker pen (fine end) and drew a line which just gave it the bit more depth. The door handle is one for the new punches from the new SUMMER MINI that has gone live today!
Contact me julia.leece@slingshot.co.nz today for you copy to be send out or go to the Stampin' Up! website where you can view it on line. www.stampinup.co.nz I will post a link on my blog for it and the amazing December Frenzy sale as soon as possible.

If you are free this afternoon or tonight come up to Albany and you can make any two of these door and wreath cards for a tiny cost of $15 which also includes home baking (and crafting with pineapple lumps cause that's the way I roll! lol)

a third of my door and wreath cards

this one is a more modern door. The main reason for doing these cards are to show some of the ways you can make wreaths! This one is made from two scallop circles punches and on circle punch. "TWO SCALLOP CIRCLES?" I hear you say - YES - Stampin' Up! are introducing a larger one in the new Summer Mini which comes out tomorrow!

The best way to make a ring using punches is to punch the inside circle first then using the punch upside down you can punch the larger one nice and evenly as you can see the hole from the first punch. This method is great for any type of ring or frame you may need. I often do it with ovals when I want a hand bag handle, you could use any shape where you have two punches the same shape but different sizes. You can do so much with this method.

I used Wild Wasabi for my wreath and the awesome pearls that we have in the Idea Book & Catalogue, they just add a little something to ANY project. The door is Soft Suede and Very Vanilla, the bow is Very Vanilla taffeta ribbon and the stamp is from the Delightful Decorations stamp set which I coloured using markers - Wild Wasabi and Poppy Parade. The door handle is one of the brads in the pack that has four colours - black, white, vanilla and silver, and they come in two sizes - this is the smaller size.

Last door is tomorrow - just in time for my classes. Tomorrows afternoon class is 1.30-3.30pm - an hour later than normal as I have to collect my son from his last exam. I can't wait for these exams to be over - can imagine he is even more excited about the prospect! lol Now what is a 15yo going to do for the next 2 months before the start the new year at school?? I have a feeling I will be employing him to wash windows etc hehe

another door wreath card

this one is more traditional. I have used the Stampin' Up! bird punch to make the leaves for the wreath. The stamp greeting was from the Welcome Christmas set and the bow is made from one of the new laces that are in the new Summer Mini catalogue which goes live on 1st December - which is only 2 sleeps away! Yes Christmas is in less than 4 weeks!!!!
I used Riding Hood Red for the door and Very Vanilla for the door which was stamped in Crumb Cake with the wooden stamp. The wreath is Almost Artichoke, which I sponged the edges a bit.
Don't forget I have two more of these type cards to show you, so see you tomorrow.

wreath cards

Firstly I must apologize but I am unable to show any photo's of Friday's display and sales table at my mother's Probus group. It was such a rush to get it set up I didn't have a minute to snap a pic! But it was a VERY successful morning and my cards and gifts were flying out the door - so my bank account is looking a lot happier than before! Thanks everyone who purchased them!

Now back to crafting! I have made a series of these cool door wreath cards and I will show one a day for the next 4 days. The first one here is for a challenge on Crafters Anonymous which was to create something Christmassy and it had to have - something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. SO something old is the card base which was from my starter kit back in February 2009! Something new is the stamp - Welcome Christmas which just came out in the new Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalogue. Something borrowed is the idea for these cards. They are all over the web and my upline Jacque made one as her swap for last weeks team training event. And finally something blue - the card base again - the whole look of the card was to be blue and icy, so different to what we get here in New Zealand - where it's very hot and sunny!

One part of the challenge was it was supposed to be a 3D item - but I reckon a DOOR is pretty 3D! lol as a moderator on the site I'm not eligible to win a challenge but it's fun to get involved! hehe

sorry for no blogging

this week has flown past and I can't believe I haven't posted this week! that's a first for me. What also is a first for me is that I haven't crafted all week!
I am doing a presentation at my mothers Probus group this morning so I have been prepping for a sale table that they wanted. So I will take some pictures today of my display table and my sales table. Then back to crafting..........

thanksgiving in New Zealand

Last night I went to my up line Jacquie's place for her level one training and we had a thanksgiving dinner. Jacquie is from the US and always has a thanksgiving dinner and although we celebrated it with her a week earlier we all had a WONDERFUL time! We each took part of the meal with us - I made a dessert called "zucotta" which is a Russian for pumpkin (spelling my be a bit out) which I thought was appropriate for thanksgiving. We had a great time just chatting and laughing together. We did a make and take too, but I can't show you that or my swap I made as it's using goodies from the upcoming Summer Mini which goes live on the 1st December. But I was chuffed that the girls voted mine swap as the 'wowest' one.
So I wanted to make a thanksgiving card for Jacquie to say thanks for all she does etc, and it was a bit of a challenge as we don't have specific thanksgiving stamps in New Zealand put I managed to put this card together. I kept to more tradition colours - Soft Suede with Cream Confetti and gold card stock. The sentiment on the front is from the Sense of Time stamp set and of cause I used my favourite boarder punch - scallop trim. I stamped the big flourish from Baroque Motifs and used the mat pack for the piercing. Finally I used a bit of hemp twine and a button just to finish it off.
I think the most important part is what you personally write inside the card, this comes from the heart not some catalogue. It's a great time to sit back and think about how well we have got it. I know many of us suffer physically from one ailment or another (some of us have a shopping list full!) but most of use have a roof over our heads, food in our kitchen and the luxury of being about to create in our spare time. Lots of us have friends and family close to us, others far away that we can connect to with just a few clicks of the mouse, we have pets that give us love unconditionally and the chance to learn new things. It is for these things that we can be grateful for.

Bookmark Christmas Card

Isn't this such a great idea? it's a card with a bit more - a book mark! The card looks great by itself but with the book mark the receiver of the card has a useful bookmark that will remind them of your card and for thinking of them.

I used the new Concord Crush teamed up with the crisp Whisper White. The stamp set I used is Delightful Decorations and the Vintage Wallpaper Stampin' Up! Big Shot embossing folder. A bit of ribbon and a touch of bling and it's done.

I would love to show you how easy this card is to make, it can be made for ANY occasion. Contact me today to book a time in - the days are filling up before Christmas so sooner is better than later!! hehe I am accepting dates in the new year for workshops or other Stampin' Up! events too.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon!

another way to give at Christmas

...is to give a card WITH chocolate - aaahhhh BLISS!!!

This is another version of the Becky Roberts ones I have been making but I wanted something that would hold a thin bar like a Cherry Ripe or Chunky Cadbury bar. So I virtually redid the whole template to fit, also I tweaked it to fit New Zealand size of A4 and in metric.
The base is Soft Suede and the DSP is the Cocoa special one from the Welcome Christmas special bundle again. Poster for the special is on the right.
This is one of the projects that we are making on Saturday for my team training. We are having our first proper training session - which will include business training as well as creative training. And lots of yummy food of cause! lol I am a nibbler of a crafter. When I craft with friends I often eat pineapple lumps which for those not from New Zealand and yummy small chocolate coated bits of heaven. hehe
This project is also my submission for the current fortnightly challenge on Crafters Anonymous - which was for a 3D Christmas container. If you are a crafter and would like to join our great supportive on line community email me for an invite. julia.leece@slingshot.co.nz

more sweet treat cup decorations

I used the scrummy speciality paper that comes with the Welcome Christmas Ribbon bundle that Stampin' Up! have on until the end of the month. Click on the flyer on the right to get all the goss, cause you get to pick a FREE ribbon like the white and red one I've used on two of these baubles.
These would make FAB teachers presents or a little something to give to a work mate. The sweet treat cups are only $7.95 (NZ) for 12 - that's only 66 cents EACH!! I can't guarantee that putting sweets in them will be good for any diet you may be on if you are anything like me - one for the decoration, one for me, maybe two for me etc hehe

If you would like to make more great Christmas projects - my team are having a CHRISTMAS EXTRAVAGANZA on Sunday 12th December at 1pm. We have hired the Whenuapai Hall which is a great venue for crafting!! You get to make 4 TERRIFIC projects that whilst we will be Christmas focused you can make them for ANY occasion, birthday, weddings etc.

SO if you are free that day contact me for further details julia.leece@slingshot.co.nz

Just Add Christmas

This week over on Just Add Ink the theme is CHRISTMAS so I decided to make these cool as baubles. They are made using the Stampin' Up! sweet treat cups. The other day on a team forum someone posted a request for Christmas decorations made using the cups so I am one not to let a challenge go unattempted (no that isn't a real word but it is in MY WORLD! lol) ! I made a few variations. These one are probably my favourites but I made some non snow globe ones which I will post tomorrow.

They are REALLY easy to make. I stamped a piece of acetate with Stazon and then cut it out using the #2 circle Bigz die with the Stampin' Up! Big Shot machine. I then put some chunky glitter on the bottom of the cup and carefully poured water into the cup. The biggest trick is not to put to much water in so it goes on the sticky surrond otherwise it wont seal and you will have a wet mess - a very pretty one with all the glitter but still a mess! heehee

Then I just decorated them from there. You can use your Crop-a-dile to punch a hole in the top of the ring to thread some ribbon thru without damaging the seal.

I would LOVE to see what you come up with - please send me a link to your blog when you post them julia.leece@slingshot.co.nz or if you would like me to come to your place to teach you and some friends how to do these, then email me too!!

another version of the box - with a card this time!

Again another version of Becky Roberts template - this time instead of the having a box with the sign above it I have a card to the side. It is made with the one sheet of cardstock which is fun.
I have used Pacific Point for the base card and highlighted it with a piece of Blueberry Crisp DSP and some Very Vanilla ribbon. I stamped the matching stamp to the DSP from the Razzle Dazzle set in Sahara Sand on some Very Vanilla card.
I went on a 'lollie run' the other week and we got thses cute peppermint cremes and this box fits four perfectly! I don't think my diet is doing very well when I have these cremes in my craft room - it's like one for the project and one for me! lol
I have a few more versions of this box so come back tomorrow :-)

Isn't this a cute as box! I have made a series of them - all the same but all totally different! I love getting an idea and running with it. The original template came from the VERY talented Becky Robert's 12 Days of Christmas.
I have twisted it around and changed it from a card to more of a display! hehe.
I used Crumb Cake card and wheeled the jumbo Petite Petals wheel in Crumb Cake. The sentiment in Real Red is from the MUST HAVE set Word Play. But the ribbon is from the current 'Dressing Up For Christmas' Stampin' Up! promotion which only runs till the end of the month. Click on the promo flyer on the right of this blog to see the two ways you can get this ribbon for FREE!!!!
as always -- email me for more information or to place an order.
thanks for visiting

shopping card!!

It's my brother's partners birthday in a few weeks so I wanted to make a card that reflected her personality! As you can see she loves shopping nearly as much as me! So the Stampin' Up! Level One Hostess stamp set Birthday Bakery is perfect as it has this cute as shopping bag!

The DSP (designer series paper) is this years specialty paper called Sweet an Sour. What you can't see in the photo is the glossy aspect to it. Once side of all the sheets are embossed in some way giving it a lovely shine. The colours are Pumpkin Pie and Rose Red - just yummy together and represent the bright and cheerful nature of Jackie.

I used the scallop circle Bigz Die with the Big Shot machine as well as the 'Lots of Tags' dies. I also used the word window & modern label punches.

Jackie's name was made with my brand new Cricut.

Also thought I would let you know that I got another TOP PICK at Just Add Ink's challenge for week 42! I am so excited about it! It was for this card -

I still LOVE sponging!!

This card I made for some friends who have just bought a beach house at Omaha and I wanted to give them a house warming card and present.
Sponging is relatively easy - the trick is to always start with lightest colours and light sponging ie softly does it! I used nearly every blue in the Stampin' Up! range, but I started by masking off the sun and the water line. I did the sky first then moved the masks the other way to do the sea.
You will see I used some masks to make the clouds too.
The sea has some white gel pen lines on it for more effect.
The stamp sets I used for the grasses were Just Believe and Pocket Silhouettes. I mounted it on Pacific Point and Basic Black.

creating your own unique background

There are lots and lots of ways you can do it but today I will show you this one.
First start with Stampin' Up!s glossy white card stock then in a very small container put a few drops of rubbing alcohol and a drop or two of reinker and mix them. Using a piece of cloth rub the colour over the glossy card. I started with the lightest colour, and worked my way around. Some parts the colour combined and other parts I left solid colour. This method dries VERY quickly.
Now using Jet Black Stazon stamp an image all over it. I used an image from the 5th Avenue stamp set.
Then using your favourite embossing folder, emboss the card using the Big Shot - I used the Manhattan flower folder. Doesn't that look great!
To create the flower embellishment I punched the flower shape and then using my bone folder and a old mouse pad I rubbed all over the punched image. You rub over both sides until the card starts to 'split' - ie two layers appear on the edge, and then you gently pull them apart. This method is called suede-ing cause it looks like the card is suede! You do need to be careful when rubbing the punched card that you don't tear it.

Mounting the card with black and white tends to make your colour image go 'pow'! heehee.

If you would like to have a go at this technique contact me and we can arrange a class or workshop either at your place or mine. Makes a great time to get a few friends together and craft together.
julia.leece@slingshot.co.nz

remember those little pink lollies -smokers??

well here I have popped them in another card using the lovely heart sweet treat cups.

The card base is Blushing Bride and I have teamed it with a sheet from the In Color Pattern DSP pack. The cute stamp Sweetheart goes so well with the heart sweet treat cups - I have stamped around the heart (although it doesn't come up very well in the photo) and the little leaves are from the same set, which are stamped in Pear Pizzaz. I punched two lengths of the Pear with the scalloped boarder punch and used the great new awl that Stampin' Up! have introduced in the new catalogue (I LOVE IT!!) to make a line of pierced holes to add some more texture.

The hearts themselves are Very Vanilla and I have rolled the Petite Petals Jumbo wheel over them (on the inside of treat cup) - the little one has two hearts - just because I can! lol

The banner which says 'friend to friend' is slightly wavy - sorta like it's blowing in the breeze! hee hee.

To get the treats out you just pull the Pear tag and the lollies fall from a hole in the back.

The inside of the card matches with the scalloped 'grass'.

I haven't done ANY paper crafting today, been sewing curtains - I don't really like that job! hehe

These ones are just for our bedroom, which only has three smallish windows. Now hubby has decided that he likes the fabric so much that he wants new curtains in our lounge and dinning room! Easy to say - but that's two very large ranch sliders and four other windows!!!!!!

I told him he HAS to help - luckily his nick name is McGiver so I am sure he will do a FAB job! lol

Thanks for visiting - see you soon!

Just Add Ink #42

It's been a few weeks since I have done a Just Add Ink challenge but I just loved this weeks challenge which is a sketch. I thought it cried out for me to use the new heart shape sweet treat cups as I hadn't opened my packet yet! So today I packed a few things and went to a fellow demo's place for a crafty afternoon. Now this was the first time I had actually met Narelle but she lives within a stones throw from me and when someone invites me for a craft playdate - I'M THERE!!! lol

When you craft at some one's place you usually don't take all the things you need - murphys law or something hee hee - so with limited supplies I came up with this. Narelle had printed the challenge sketch for us to do as a challenge, which was kinda freaky as I had intended to do the sketch anyway! how weird is that!

We had a great afternoon crafting and chatting about ALL things crafty - thanks Narelle, and I think I've made some new friends!

I used Stampin' Up!s Basic Black and Very Vanilla card, Basic Black ink and the DSP is part of the Naturals Colour Pack DSP. If you haven't looked at these colour packs then GO and have a look! hehe They are 12"x12" and you get two sheets of each of the two patterns for all the colours in each family. And for the In Color pack you get four sheets instead of two.

Anyway thanks for visiting.

double embossing

I used both heat and dry embossing on this card. I was inspired by Ann Wills
she made a card similar like this for our full Team Training event last weekend. What you do is brayer Versamark ink over one inside part of an embossing folder, then put it thru the Stampin' Up! Big Shot. Then sprinkle embossing powder (I used silver) and heat set it. Doesn't it look FAB!!!
I matched it up with the silver embossed words (from Contempo Christmas) and a bit of bling! The ribbon is from one of the bundles that are on special (see the flyer on the right) and the edge of it almost looks silver too! A bit of Jolly Holiday DSP, some Old Olive & Cherry Cobbler cardstock and it's done.
The card has lots of texture and sparkle, making it very eye catching - thanks for the inspiration Ann!

DSP STAR

isn't this stunning! It's made from DSP (designer series paper), a pair of scissors and glue dots!
It was a class over on Crafters Anonymous by Yvonne Walker. This particular DSP is a retired on as it was my first attempt - but I was SO proud of myself I just HAD to share it! hehe

Can you imagine on of these on top of your Christmas tree? or smaller ones decorating the tree. This is about 20-25cm in diameter. Who would of thought that using the fabulous Stampin' Up! products could be made into something so cool!

We are running classes about every two weeks at Crafters Anonymous. Email me for an invitation to this ALL CRAFTS site. julia.leece@slingshot.co.nz

box card

isn't this a cool kind of fold!!

It's called a box card for obvious reasons LOL and it makes a nice change from the standard card. It definitely is a card that you have to concentrate when making it and a bone folder is a MUST for all the crisp folds you need, but it is actually fairly easy.

I made this card for a challenge over on Crafters Anonymous which was:

to have a Christmas theme BUT with non traditional colours and the catch is there has to be movement of some sort in the item....a part of the entry has to move!

So I choose Concord Crush and Pretty in Pink with Very Vanilla, not often you would have a purple Christmas card! lol I used the Lap of Luxury DSP which is a very pretty pack of double sided papers. The stamp sets are Word Play for the front image and Christmas Greetings for the inside greeting. I popped the bauble on the front image up after I added some Pretty in Pink and Dazzling Diamonds.

I am really pleased with how this one turned out, Stampin' Up! products always make life so much easy as you know they quality products and with the products able to match in colours etc it takes A LOT of guess work out of your projects - which means you have MORE time to create!

I wonder if I should teach this as a class?? what do you think??

Don't forget to email me if you would like to join Crafters Anonymous - a ALL crafts site. julia.leece@slingshot.co.nz

fancy envelope pocket

this is such a fun project. The pocket that the card sits in is made from an envelope. All products are as usual Stampin' Up! so you know it all coordinates.

This is an optional project tomorrow at my classes - so if you would like to know how to make these email me for details of my classes here in Albany, Auckland, New Zealand.

julia.leece@slingshot.co.nz

chocolate butterflies

the other day on the Stampin' Up! demo's website someone asked if anyone had tried using the Beautiful Wings Embossilits dies (118138 $26.50) to create chocolate moulds. WELL let me say that was a challenge I WAS NOT going to pass!

So I got some acetate and embossed it and then painted on the melted chocolate. It's best to chill the moulds first then chill them after they are complete- I do it usually only about 5 or so minutes. Then you just lightly push them out. I think they look great and would be FAB on top of cupcakes or cakes. What do you think?

One Layer Card

here is the card that I used for my swap for the Creative Inkers team training yesterday. I love doing things that push you a bit further and I set myself a challenge of doing a one layer card. Well it's almost one layer.

The fold is the tri-fold shutter card that I have done a bit latterly. I just sized it down to cut 3 from my Crumb Cake A4. After cutting and scoring it I stamped it with the big En Francis back ground stamp. I had to use my faithful Stampin' ma gig to line up the words so it looks like it's all stamped just once. The scrolly vine from Vintage Vogue was just perfect for the corners and a bit of sponging around the edges all in Old Olive. I used the wreath from the AWESOME Welcome Christmas stamped in Cherry Cobbler. Don't forget the super bundle that Stampin' Up! are having - check out the flyer on the right of this post.

The last little bit was two tags from the Lots of Tags die set that I used thru the Big Shot. I used the single TO & FROM stamp, punched it out with the tag punches, a bit of Old Olive ribbon and she was all done!

Wait till you see what I have to show you tomorrow!! see you then!

third Holiday Line Up card

here is the third and last card that I sent Flo
go check out her blog to see what she sent me - you wont be disappointed.

There are only three stamps in this set so I had to use each of them. The last one is the line up of elves which I just couldn't think what to do with them. Then I remembered my son's Where's Wally books and thought - ah ha! and that is sorta what I did. Although there isn't a 'Wally' to look for. To create the effect I had to stamp the image on to post it notes - I needed two of them. Once cut out this enables you to mask the areas where you have already stamped, thus creating the 'crowd' of elves.
To highlight them even more I used my white gel pen to bring out their eyes, finishing them with a dot for their pupils. I had to include the 'from all of us' sign from the Family Phrases set.
I think it turned out quite effective as I only used Crumb Cake ink & card stock and mounted it on a bit of Whisper White. Normally I like lots of layers but I think simplicity worked well for this card.

If you didn't get a chance to go on the Stampin' Up! Punches Blog Hop yesterday go and have a look now. Just click on the links in the previous post and you will be treated to some AWESOME work and come away with lots of ideas.

I am putting an order in on Monday 1st November so if there are any punchers (or any other Stampin' Up! products) that you MUST have (or lets just say NEED LOL) email me this weekend julia.leece@slingshot.co.nz.

thanks for visiting.

PUNCH ART BLOG HOP

Hello and welcome to the inaugural South Pacific punch art blog hop!!!We are a bunch of Stampin' Up! demonstrators from New Zealand and Australia who love our Stampin' Up!punches. We have gotten together to showcase a selection of the punches you can purchase from Stampin' Up!. We know we will inspire you and encourage you to use those punches in new and beautiful ways. Please leave a comment and let us know what you think to go in the draw to win some yummy scrummy punch art blog candy (offer not available to SU demos).

The way it works is that you go from blog to blog. There is a list at the bottom of this post with all the blogs that are participating. You may have come to my blog from Sally Williams and then go on to Amy's blog.


This is a first for me but it was so much fun coming up with these samples. My punch that I am highlighting is the Two Step Owl Extra Large Punch (118074) which for $41.50NZ/$33.95AUD is GREAT value when you see all the things you can make. This is only a sample of things you can do - if you have come up with other things please leave a comment with a link as we would LOVE to see them.



One of the cool things you can make with the owl punch is ALIENS! I thought I would take it to the next level and have a alien wedding - especially when I found the stamp from the 'A Word for You' (121474 wood mount $46.95NZ/$38.95AUD or 120528 clear mount $37.95nz/$29.95AUD) that just is perfect for this odd couple! lol


This card was one of the easiest card I have ever made. I was inspired to make it after I went to an 80's party for a friends 40th. Her sister Ann made a Pac Man cake - go visit her blog

The next series of photos are gift cards that are going on a friends 12 days of Christmas parcels. Over on Crafters Anonymous we each have a person for whom we buy or make 12 little pressies for them to open for the 12 days before Christmas. Each day had a theme and you will see I have typed in the photos the theme for each day - so you can sort of understand why the card has on it what it does. I thought I would take the opportunity to show case more ways of using the Owl punch.

Here is the list of demo's that are taking part in this blog hop. The hop officially starts at 12pm New Zealand time or 10am Sydney in Australia. As I am not proficient in working out how to set up a blog post to start at a certain day let alone a set time I am starting mine now! lol

1. Karen Southwell - www.kareniescrafts.blogspot.com

2. Carol-Ann Torrie http://queen-of-scraps.blogspot.com

3 Sally Williams http://www.sallycancraft.com/

4 Julia Leece - http://www.juliascards.blogspot.com/

5 Amy http://ladybugsanddaisychains.blogspot.com/

6 Melissa Davies http://beedevinedesigns.blogspot.com/

7 Michelle Dyson http://www.stampinkpaper.blogspot.com

8 Clare Mcilhatton http://craftycowcreations.blogspot.com/

9 Lisa Bullock http://daffyscrapper.wordpress.com

10 Pauline Bennetts - http://paulinebennetts.com/stampede/

11 Tia Routledge http://craftingwithtia.weebly.com/my-blog.html

12 Emma Kirton http://www.emmakirton.blogspot.com/

13 Angie Jones http://angiescraftfusion.blogspot.com/

14 Andrea Buckland http://creatingcardswithandrea.blogspot.com

15 Steph Gray http://stampinsteph.wordpress.com/

Thanks for joining in on the fun today!!