It's official!!!

I've been waiting for Deanne to make the official announcement so that I can share with you that I'm on a Design Team!!! I am a layout DT member for the new "Just My Sketches and The Blend".
I was previously on Deanne's Sketches DT when it was "Just My Sketches" so when she put out the DT call for this new challenge concept of combining a sketch with a song inspiration I knew I had to apply (I mean, how cool is that concept?!?), and I'm so excited to be accepted!
I have to say a HUGE thank you to Deanne for not only accepting me again but also thanks for all the hard work you put into creating your sketches and coordinating the DT month after month!

ETA: Go check out the talented girls that I am honoured to be working alongside:

• Monique Fox
• Ann Lenth
• Stephanie Puccini
• Michele Light
• Julie Thornton
• Melanie Jarocki
• Ana White
• Spardha Angra
• Janice Coble
• Annmaree K
• Melisa Waldorf
• Sheri Fink
• Lesley Freiner
• Kristina
• Margie Overman
• Lynn
• Lisa Johnston
  

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

Happy Australia Day

Happy Australia day everybody!! I should have made my card today something Aussie themed, but I wasn't thinking that far ahead... I made this card ages ago and I got word the other day that the recipient received it so now I can share it...
This is based on an old Mojo Monday sketch, I loved it so much that I made 3 more of this design and then another 4 using every pack of DSP I own! Talk about instant card stash...
Stamps: Pun Fun
Ink: Stazon, Tempting Turquoise
Watercolouring: Aquapainter, Tempting Turquoise, Pixie Pink
Cardstock: Kraft, Kaleidoscope DSP, Tempting Turquoise, Pixie Pink
Accessories: Bold Brights Brads
Tools: Circle Scissor Plus, Paper Piercer
Punches: Scallop Border Punch, 1 1/4" Square Punch (to dovetail the strip)

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

Sale-a-bration starts today!

Sale-a-Bration starts today!!!! Are you excited??? I had my order placed nice and early this morning.

There are 3 ways to earn free stamps during the Sale-A-Bration promotion:

1. Spend: Any customer who spends $100 or more* will earn an exclusive Sale-A-Bration stamp set with no limit to the amount of stamp sets you can earn
   ($100 = 1 Set, $200 = 2 sets, $400 = 4 sets etc)
2. Host: Hostesses of $600 or more workshops* will also earn an exclusive Sale-A-Bration stamp set in addition to the usual SU! hostess benefits
3. Join: Thinking about starting your own business? or simply want a 20% discount on every SU! purchase? Any new demonstrators who sign up during Sale-A-Bration will get a free stamp set of their choice** from the IB&C.

You can combine any or all of these ways to earn free sets. So, say you host a workshop of your own with me? You order $100 worth of products and 5 of your friends order $100 worth of products as well. You and your friends would each be able to choose a free set from the Sale-A-Bration brochure, then as the hostess you would be able to choose a 2nd set from the SAB brochure PLUS you would earn your normal hostess benefits of either a level 1 or level 2 hostess set and $70 of free product.
That would give you 3 exclusive Stamp Sets (2 SAB, 1 Hostess) plus $170 of SU! product for an initial outlay of only $105 (inc P&H), I'll let you do the maths but I think you'll agree that there really is no better time to be a SU! hostess!
View the brochure here

Just adding that you can use Hearts for Haiti towards your $100 sale-a-bration order so you can earn free stamps while helping others, how great is that?
Have a great day!

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

Haitian Disaster Relief

On 12 January, 2010 a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti, leaving in its wake devastation so overwhelming that the Haitian people and their leaders can only look for help from the outside to cope.
From now until 28 February 2010, $2 from every I {Heart} Hearts stamp set sold will be donated to the Red Cross' Haiti Relief and Development Fund. The Red Cross is already well-established in Haiti, and this money will be used to provide immediate relief and long-term support through supplies, technical assistance and other support to help those in need.

Since I don't want to profit from the misfortune of others I am removing my demonstrator commission from this stamp set bringing the price to only $34.36*

The I {Heart} Hearts stamp set is designed to coordinate with both the Full Heart & Heart to Heart punches (RRP $30.95) so in addition to SU!'s generous offer I will donate 20% of the purchase price of these punches to the Red Cross' Haiti Relief & Development fund for the duration of this offer.

To see how Red Cross are helping in Haiti or to make an additional donation you can visit the Red Cross Website:
http://redcross.org.au/howyoucanhelp_Haiti_Appeal.htm

Thank you in advance for your support of the Haitian People.


*plus p&h of $5.95 or 5% whichever is greater, RRP of I {Heart} Hearts is $42.95 as featured in the Summer Mini Catalogue
Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

Teacher Gifts Part 4

One last set. This one was for Miss Kerrie (I know yesterday's was for Miss Kerry too but that was Miss Kerry with a "Y" and this is for Miss Kerrie with an "IE" I think the centre has about 4 Miss Kerrie/Kerry's lol).

This first design uses a jumbo grommet. I threaded the ribbon through the grommet before sticking the grommet down then tied the knot in the centre.
For this set I left the box detail fairly simple since the DSP pattern was so nice I figured I may as well let it be it's own feature. The 1st photo shows better how the label on the front is nice and wavy. I just bent it before using glue dots to stick it on the box.
Another simple card. I love how this stamp from "Best Yet" looks so good in a layered scallop circle, I'll be sad to see the set go when the new catalogue is released later this year. (Ok, who am I kidding? I'll be so excited over new product I'll find something else to love... I'm such a fickle stamper lol)
Stamps: Best Yet, A Rose is A Rose
Ink: Not Quite Navy, Kiwi Kiss
Cardstock: Not Quite Navy, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Blue, Whisper White
Accessories: Baja Breeze Striped 5/8" Grosgrain, Jumbo Grommets, Button Bouquet Designer Buttons
Punches: Scallop Edge Punch, 1 1/4", 1 3/8" and Scallop Circle Punches

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

Teacher Gifts Part 3

This was the set I made for Miss Kerry, Miss Kerry will be moving up to the "Sunshine" room with Charlotte this year so the transition to a new room will hopefully be a little easier if Charlotte knows one of her teachers.
This set is pretty self explanatory:


Oh, and I've been meaning to post this link from Allison:
Using Picasa to Perk Up Your Photos This is a great tip for people who don't have photoshop!
Stamps: A Beautiful Thing, Best Yet
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Old Olive
Cardstock: Washington Apple DSP, Bashful Blue, Riding Hood Red, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Whisper White
Accessories: Blooms Die Cuts, Playground Designer Buttons, Linen Thread, Riding Hood Red Striped Grosgrain, Build-a-Brad
Punches: Scallop Edge Punch, Scallop, 1 3/8", 1 1/4", 1/2" Circle Punches

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

Teacher Gifts Part 2

So, I totally meant to come back and show you the rest of the Teacher Gift sets that I made but I flaked so I'm sorry :) Anyway, enough excuses! Here is the 2nd set I made:I made this set for Miss Michelle (Or Mist Shell as Charlotte says...) Michelle is actually a friend of ours that I have known since I was about 10 and her kids were babies (those babies that I used to babysit now babysit for us how freaky old does that make me feel?!?) so it was really nice to have her in Charlotte's room last year, just the little things like when Charlotte was sick with high temps and I had to come in early to get her, she was sitting on the couch having cuddles with Michelle and seeing that instantly made me feel less guilty about sending Charlotte without realising she wasn't well. Michelle is on float this year so she doesn't know for certain yet if she'll be in Charlotte's room when Charlotte is there but it will be nice if she is...
Michelle has a really eclectic kind of taste, she has this shelf ("the shelf") in her house where she puts all the funky little bizarre kitschy things that she finds around the place that is always so cool to checkout, and I knew that the perfect DSP for her would be the new Kaleidoscope DSP with all the bright colours and butterflies!
I used the Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die layered with the new Butterfly punch for the detail on top of the box. With all the sets I tried to keep the cards generic occasion cards so they could be used for whatever the teacher wants, but with each box I tried to include a little quote to let them know how important they have been to us, and I thought this quote from Flight of the Butterfly was perfect for this set and Michelle.
Now onto the cards, I made 2 of each design:


Stamps: Short & Sweet, Flight of the Butterfly
Ink: Lovely Lilac
Cardstock: Kaleidoscope DSP, Pixie Pink, Gable Green, Lovely Lilac, Whisper White
Accessories: Whisper White Taffeta, Pretty in Pink Taffeta, Fleurettes, Build-a-Brad, Sherbet Designer Buttons, Linen Thread
Punches: Butterfly Punch, Large & Small Oval Punches, Word Window Punch
Big Shot: Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die, Divine Swirl Cuttlebug Folder

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

Just My Sketches are back!!! With a twist!

Deanne is bringing back the "Just My Sketches" sketch blog and she's bringing it in with a twist. She'll give a list of songs with each sketch to inspire you. She's also doing a DT call so why not try out?
I saw the first sketch and list of songs and I just had to play along! I chose "Hands" by Jewel because I've always loved the "My hands are small I know, but they're not yours they are my own" line and I thought it would be perfect to use for a layout about Jack discovering his hands. I wanted the journalling to fill most of the star but that was the best publisher or word can do. I've since found a tutorial on using photoshop to journal in shapes so I'm going to have a go and re-do the star and try again. I know I should have fixed it before posting but I realised how long it had been and I just loved this sketch and layout so much that I had to put it on straight away!

Here's the sketch if you want to play along (over on the original post there is also a card sketch if you'd prefer):

Stamps: Jumbo Outline Alphabet
Ink: Chocolate Chip Inkpad & Marker
Cardstock: Good Morning Sunshine DSP, Sahara Sand, Chocolate Chip, Pacific Point
Accessories: Star Designer Brads, Jumbo Brads, Paper Crimper
Punches: Large & Small Star, 1" Circle

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould