Happy Birthday Marcia!

I'm a little late posting this here because I wanted to make sure that the birthday girl got it before I showed you it, but here is the card I made for Marcia's birthday.
Marcia is a super talented stamper and I am lucky to have become friends with her through SU! I haven't met Marcia in real life yet but we chat online and email each other all the time so I feel like I've known her for ages!
Stamps: Embrace Life, Family Phrases
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red
Cardstock: Ginger Blossom DSP, Kraft
Accessories: Ginormous Pieces On Board Chipboard, Jumbo Eyelets, Fire Rhinestone Brad, Corner Rounder

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

Punchy Love You

Just a quick little Valentines Day Card. Valentines day is a holiday i find hard to make a card for, it's really a holiday that's about the girls (jewellery, flowers, chocolates...) and the traditional colour scheme of red pink & white is so girly it's hard to make something for the guys. I decided to go with the Ginger Blossom colours for this card as they have the elements of pink white and red but more earth toned which I find suits guys better.
PS Spend $100 with me during Jan or Feb and you could get the polka dot punches set for free!
Stamps: Polka Dot Punches
Ink: Ruby Red
Cardstock: Cameo Coral, Ginger Blossom DSP, River Rock
Accessories: Beach Ribbon Originals, Cherished Memories Rubons

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

Happy Australia Day!!!

Wear your thongs (the flip flops not the underwear for any US readers, I couldn't care less what knickers you wear lol) eat some vegemite and chuck a lamb chop on the bbq! Enjoy the sunshine & be proud that our nation was started by a vote and not a war!


Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

Teeth

This layout is about Charlotte's first teeth, the journalling reads:

"It took you almost 9 months to get your first tooth... Then you got 5 in 2 weeks!! You were a little lopsided for a few days with the first 3 coming in on the right but the left quickly caught up."

Because the cardstock I chose is so bright I decided to keep with the sparkly white tooth theme for the embellishments so I have used clear brads from the pretties kit & the title was made up by inking up the chipboard with White Craft Ink & covered it with the white chunky glitter. I used the sparkle stamp from "Warm Words" in Whisper White Craft ink to create a photo corner.
Has anyone checked out Deanne's sketches at A Scrap Addicts Sketches yet? If you are a scrapbooker then you really need to check them out! I used her January Sketch for this one.
Stamps: Warm Words
Ink: Whisper White Craft
Cardstock: Old Olive, Bali Breeze
Accessories: White Gel Pen, Lots of Letters On Board Chipboard, Tombow Multi-Adhesive, Chunky Glitter
Sketch: A Scrap Addicts Sketches Jan 15

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

Heartfelt Sympathy

A close friend of ours lost his mother early this year so I wanted something simple to give them to let them know we're thinking of them.
Stamps: Heartfelt Thanks
Ink: Soft Subtles SW Markers, Mellow Moss
Cardstock: Spring Fling DSP, Almost Amethyst, Lavender Lace, Kraft, Certainly Celery, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Very Vanilla Taffeta

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

Setting up a stamp room part 2 - How I store my stamps

It's been a while since I last posted about setting up a home office/stamp room so I thought I'd share a little something today. (You'll have to excuse my messy desk, I made a spur of the moment decision to take these pics, but this is what my desk looks like most days so it's an accurate portrayal lol)
ETA: The wood frame behind my desk on one side is from where we took out a wall and rebuilt them slightly into each bedroom to create built in wardrobes, we haven't been able to plaster the office just yet but fingers crossed it will be done later this year - who knew a few sheets of plaster board could be so expensive??
This is how I store my stamps:
I have one of those corner computer desks to stamp on (once upon a time it actually held a computer lol) I store them by size then by set (eg Loads of love, loads of love accessories & Boatloads of love are all together) I use the little shelf things that are designed for CD's (I just unscrewed the little plastic cd holders) to store my medium, extra small & a few of the small sized stamp sets. I have a cheapie $20 reject shop DVD rack that I turned on it's side and laid across the top of the shelf for my small sized stamp sets. I also store my markers, embossing powders adhesives (except for SNAIL) etc in the back part of the shelf (the things I use fairly regularly but not often enough to leave out on my desk all the time). On top of the DVD rack I have my background stamps stacked together, my Stampin' Around Wheels (in the storage case, well worth the money if you own more than 1 or 2 wheels - my upline and I went halves in one order of them as they come in packs of 2 so we could get both sizes for the price of one pack) on top of them I store my one stamp set that comes in an extra large case. Next to the wheels I store the stamp sets in the Large Cases & next to them I store my alphabets.
The purple box has the contents of a *TOP SECRET* project I'm working on at the moment. It doesn't normally live there. Same with the inkpads, I left them out when I was working on something and they haven't made their way back to the colour caddy yet.Next to the DVD Rack I keep my stamp sets that are on current promo's or mini catalogue so that I reach for them first, I find that sometimes if I buy a stack of new sets all at the same time I tend to lose a few in the mix and then it's a waste of my money if I haven't had full use of the sets. So these sit straight to my left as I'm stamping where I see them first and it really has helped me use my new stuff more!
Next to them I have my BIG Three for You Punch Box set and then on top of that I have my hodgepodge sets, pretties kit & flower fusion. I also find that having them right in my view when I'm looking for stuff helps me to use them instead of hoard them! I am such a hoarder, I don't use stuff because some of it cost a bit (even though you get heaps of pieces a hodgepodge set is still $50+) I don't want to waste money so I save it for that "special occasion" but I've already paid for them so to have them sit there without using them is more of a waste of money than using them on something that doesn't live up to special occasion status, but if you're making a card then it's generally a special occasion if you catch my drift. Anyway enough rambling back to the post: The side of my desk has a small bookshelf built into it. I use that to store my retired stamp sets, so they are easily accessible if I want to use one but if I reach for a set to use in a workshop or class I don't have to sit there and umm & ahh over whether or not it is retired. You can see that I've stored a copy of the spring mini with the sets that retire from the spring mini catalogue, that's just to make it easier when the new IB&C gets released I know which sets make a comeback without having to check every retired set on the shelf. The little ovals on some of the boxes are the sticky part of a sticky not punched with the small oval punch, i was using them to keep track of what retired from what catalogue but some of them fell off and it got confusing so i don't bother with that anymore.

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

Shoutout to SheetLoad!

I don't know if anyone has checked out SheetLoad of Cards, but if you haven't you have to go and check out their January issue. (you will need acrobat reader or similar to view it)
SheetLoad of Cards is a monthly e-Zine of different sketch patterns etc to help you get the most out of your cardstock & patterned paper and if you haven't checked them out yet you are missing out on a great resource!

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

Just Because

Just a quick card I whipped up to send to someone tomorrow. Australia Post is going to love me, I have a million cards in the mail tomorrow. (I'll share them out over the next few days)
Stamps: Eastern Blooms
Ink: Rich Regals & Earth Elements SW Markers
Cardstock: Taken with Teal, Bali Breeze DSP, Whisper White, Old Olive
Accessories: Flower Fusion, Ice Rhinestone Brads, Earth Elements & Rich Regals Brads, 1" Rose Red DS Ribbon, Hidden Garden Rubons

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

Whoops

Meant to schedule this one... sorry

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

Another for Keesh's Challenge

I was loving Makeesha's challenge so much that I had another go. This is a card for my friends daughter who is 4 and "A big girl now" so I thought a big girl card was in order ;o) I kept it bright and funky but used some of the same stamps and materials from her mum's birthday card so she would know it truly is a grown up card.
Stamps: Family Phrases, Eastern Blooms
Ink: Old Olive, Rose Red
Cardstock: Bali Breeze DSP, Kraft, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White
Accessories: Flower Fusion, 1" Rose Red DS Ribbon, Earth Elements Brads, Chunky Glitter

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

Back in the saddle

I absolutely loved Kristina Werner's challenge #36 but I was too late to play along officially so when I saw Makeesha's first sketch challenge for the year I decided I needed to get back in the saddle so to speak after my break so I set myself another little mini challenge to use the beautiful colours from the old Colour Inspiration challenge with Makeesha's challenge. I'm a bit rusty with my watercolouring but I thought I did alright...
Stamps: Embrace Life, Short & Sweet
Ink: Old Olive, Stazon, SW Markers; Old Olive, Pretty in Pink & Rose Red
Cardstock: Kraft, Bali Breeze DSP, Watercolour Paper, Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Felt Fusion, Pretties Kit, Aqua Painter, Pretty in Pink Taffeta

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

MIA

I've been MIA lately, and I'm sorry!!! And you have to put up with me blabbering away as I have no cards to post today either, I have been working on a few things but nothing I can really share here just yet (don't you hate when people say that???) because they aren't mine to share until other people have seen them first!

I can also blame my lack of blogging on my good friend Nomes, she gave me the first book in the twilight series 2 weeks ago and I have been working my way through them, (with a few gaps as I've had to wait for the next copy to be returned to the library). I'm up to number 3 and I'm absolutely loving it! It's amazing how many people have read them, any time you're reading them out in public people will just come up to you and say "what number are you up to?" or ask you how you're liking them, like the other day i was sitting in Macca's at Lithgow waiting for charlotte to finish her last 2 chicken nuggets (taking like forever!) and started reading and the lady next to me just started talking with us about the books and suggesting other books I might like (which I can't remember now!). It was great to meet someone new I probably wouldn't have spoken to otherwise!

While I'm going I should mention that the lovely Chrissie has nominated me for a blogging award:

I think I'm supposed to pass it along to some more people so I nominate:
Marcia
Lisa
Robyn
All of these ladies make beautiful cards & layouts so if you haven't checked out their blogs yet you really should!

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

09 is here, it's time to get the Sale-A-Bration started!!!

It's here, your once a year chance to get free sets with only a $100 purchase!!! Hostesses can also earn sets if their workshop exceeds $600 (plus 1 for every $100 of their own order) AND if you decide now is the time to join the SU! family you will get one set of your choice up to $79.95 in value for FREE!
Check out the gorgeous sets you can choose from here (my favourite is "Polka Dot Punches" on page 4 with stamps that fit in the Scallop Punch and the 5 Petal Flower Punch), then email me (zjgould@gmail.com) or call (0418 650 294) to place your order and rake in the freebies!!!
*All of this is in addition to the normal hostess benefits.


Images © Stampin' Up!

We have a weiner... I mean winner!

Ok, so I'm really slack, I just realised I completely forgot to draw a winner for my blog candy. So can we have a really long overdue drumroll please?......

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

2

Timestamp: 2009-01-01 05:37:27 UTC

And the Winner is:

Rae Miller, Rae is one of my customers & has only been stamping since August and she comes up with some beautiful creations! Rae will be getting a little package of ribbon samples.
Wanna know how even more slack I am (I know how much worse can you get when you forget to draw the winner of your own competition)? I forgot to tell Rae about the competition when she put her order in so this will be a complete surprise that she won!

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould