I Scrapped!!!!!

Morning all.

By now, most of you may have heard via the grapevine, other blogs, word of mouth or read it here first...about the digital scrapbooking and card making facility that Stampin' Up have called My Digital Studio (or MDS).

It's only $24.95 for the FULL version, which includes $600+ worth of content. You can download a FREE trial version for 30 days.  You have the potential through this software to do so much with it from Digital scrapbooking to cards, birthday invitations, birthday party decorations, Cake toppers, etc,etc,etc.....you are limited by your imagination!!!

MDS gives you the opportunity through their 30 day free trial (check it out here) and if you like what you do with it, then you have the opportunity through discs available in the main Catalogue (page 205) and the new Seasonal Catalogue (pg 5, 30 and 39 - hostess benefits) you can build a creative digital empire.

I have a blog friend - Nicole Derendorf - who is a genius at this kind of thing and has been BEYOND helpful in helping a non techno person like myself using this software. You can check out Nicole's amazing creations here. Just scroll through he blog and you will find many examples of her cleverness!!

Well....I hope you are all sitting down for the following reveal. I have watched my bestie scrapbook and marvelled at her creations. She has been AT ME for years to get off my backside and give it a go....well I did.....through MDS anyhow. This was my 1st attempt (click on the pic to make it larger)...

Now apparently, after you have "mastered a single page layout, you move onto a double page layout!!! This was the result.....

 

 

 

Now my 2 models are my children (now Miss 8 and Mast 12)....and yes...these pics were taken some time ago indeed.

I had a lot of fun (and more than a couple of bloopers) putting together these pages, but once you have a play....you DO get the hang of it....even if you are nearly computer illiterate like myself!!!

Thanks for popping by. Soooooooooooo much more to share!!

Stuff used:
SU MDS

Lynda xx

Easter Bunny meets Easter Cow!!!

Hi all.

Firstly, I wanna wish all my readers all the very best for this Easter period. Here in Sydney we are having a mini Autumn heatwave (again) with temps hitting the high 20's to low 30's!!! (68F to 86F for those other than Celsius folk out there).

This year for the first time in a LONG time I am prepared for Easter. I do not buy my kids any eggs because by the time the grandparental bunny, The Aunty/Uncle Bunny and the Neighbour Bunny all make a stop....it gets a little ridiculous!!!! Sometimes to the point that we have Easter chocolate left over in September!!!

We have now 8 children in the villas around us ranging in age from 12-2. With this in mind....and so my 2 wee bunnies can drop their wee surprises off....I made these. They are made from the SU Mini Milk Carton Die (hence the Easter Cow reference!!!)

 

I had to take all the pics quickly as it was very hot in the sun and I did not want the contents to melt!!! Here it is close up at the front...and a small surprise at the back!!!!

 

 

The one thing that did surprise me a lot is HOW MUCH chocolate these wee containers hold!!! Check this out.....

 

I also could not forget the Mum's at dance class. We natter every Thursday whilst our daughters are upstairs learning. I was inspired by the magical tutorial by Julie Davison here. I did change hers up a little in that I used a "punch art" face as opposed to a hand drawn one....I cannot free hand well at all!!!! This is what they received.....

 

 

I did make the bunny too. It holds quite a few Smarties.

 

 

Here are their faces close up......

 

 

Sorry about some of the darker pics. Sometimes the shade was a better option!!!

 

Thanks for popping by and whatever your faith, belief or following, may the coming days provide with you fun, friends and laughter too.

 

Stuff used:

CS: Whisper White, Pretty In Pink, Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango, Many retired DSPs in the milk cartons

Ink: Black SWM, White Gel Pen

Punches: Milk Carton Bunny - Head 1 1/4" circle, Ears - Blossom Builder Punch, Nose - Owl Punch, Muzzle and White Mouth - 1/2" circle, Pink mouth and eyes - 1/4" circle, Tail - Boho Blossom Punch

                Triangle Bunny - Face - as per milk carton bunny except the eyes are the MEDIUM circle fm the Owl Punch, Ears - SU Large Oval Punch and Word Window Punch, Paws - SU small oval punch

                Triangle Chick - eyes - 1/4" circle, SU 2 3/8" Scallop Circle, Beak - Carla Craft CP2 square Punch

Other Bits: Tangerine Tango ribbon (Sycamore St Bundle fm SAB '13), Non SU Pink Satin ribbon, White Crochet cotton to tie the milk cartons, COPIOUS amounts of small chocolate!!!!

 

Lynda xx

 

My Very First

Hi all,

I was just chatting to a friend overseas and we both cannot get over the fact that March is nearly over!!! Where is the time going???

I have now been a demo for over 2 months and even that time has evaporated. I recently held my very first workshop at my dear friends house. We made a series of 3 x 3 note tags that incorporated all things SAB. They are a direct CASE of the ones I found on Stampin' Connection by Yvonne Ashe. I do not think Yvonne has a blog (or at least I cannot find one)!!

This is what we made.......

 

 

I also made something a little speccy for the hostess....as she was my very first hosty and also a great friend to help me on my SU way. True story....she actually introduced me to SU some 5 years ago when I was a reserve "off the bench" bum-on-a-seat for a workshop she held. there I was introduced to the SU punches and from there I was hooked!!! This is what I made her.....

 

 

  

 

It was filled with ribbons, buttons and of course, chocolate!!!! The ladies (and the 3 x 10yo's) that wee there had a fun time creating. Oops....just realised a couple managed to avoid the photo!!!

 

I was lucky enough that ladies did place orders and as a nice way to say thanks, I made them the  following notecards. These were based on the ones from Mary Fish's blog here.

 

 

I learnt so much in such a short time. Hectic yet so rewarding.

 

Thanks for popping by. I will try and list all the things used. Know that there is much to share. I am even using products and things that are NOT my usual style.

 

Stuff used:

3 x 3 note cards

CS: (SU) Whisper White, Sycamore Street DSP (SAB '13), Island Indigo, Tangerine Tango, Rich Razzleberry, Pool Party

Ink: (SU) SWM's in Razzleberry, Indigo, Calypso Coral and Pool Party

Stamps: (SU) Patterned Occasions (SAB '13)

Punches/dies: (SU) 2 3/8" Scallop Oval, 1 3/4" circle, Circles Die #2, Owl Punch, Carla Craft 3/16" circle

Other bits: Dimensionals, Sycamore Street Ribbon (SAB '13)

 

Hostess Gift

CS: (SU) Island Indigo, Pool Party, Whisper White

Ink: (SU) Razzleberry, Summer Starfruit, Island Indigo

Stamps: (SU) Madison Avenue (SAB '13), Itty Bitty Banners

Dies/ Embossing Folders: (SU) Ovals Framelits, Honeycomb EF, Fancy Favour Box Die

Other Bits: SU Vintage Faceted Buttons, Glue Dots, Dimensionals, Non SU blue 1/2 pearl

 

Thank You Notecards

CS: SU Notecards, Whisper White, Sycamore Street DSP

Ink: (SU) Razzleberry, Island Indigo, Tangerine Tango

Stamps: (SU) Petite Pairs, So Happy For You (ret)

Punches: Elegant Butterfly, Occasions Paper Piercing Pack

Other Bits: Dimensionals

 

Lynda xx

 

 

 

 

Just Three Words........

Hi All.

Needless to say the insanity button has been pressed WAY too many times around here of late. I cannot believe where all the time is going!!!

I am channelling a lot of energy into this Friday....my very first Workshop/Hostess party as a SU demo. A wonderful friend is hostessing for me and I am very excited/nervous/and all that goes with it.

One thing I absolutely love about the SU and greater crafting community is the amazing friendships. I have so many fab friends online and on Facebook, many (most) of whom I have never met. Yet, any time that one has trouble or falls on hard times, there are sooooo many rallying around with handmade RAK's in letterboxes and email/messages of courage and the like.

I had cause to send a card to a FB friend that has had a HORROR of a time of late. i do not know this girl very well, but something inside of me said I had to do something. So....with some stealth investigation to source her addy, I sent her this card........

It also gave me the chance to further play with some SAB goodies...being the Sycamore Street DSP, the Madison Avenue stamp set and the co-ordinating buttons and ribbon. I will admit to not using much Tangerine Tango at all, but I am kind of getting use to it using it with this paper.

I used SWM's to colour the flower and used the new Oval Framelits (available in the new seasonal mini). Made it all oh so easy. I also carried through the hexagonal shape in the DSP by embossing the DSP with the Hexagon EF!! It was finished off with a banner and a button with ribbon threaded through it. Easy-peasy!!

 

 

I received a beautiful message of thanks from the young lass too. Looks like it did the trick. Glad I listened to my gut!!

 

Thanks for popping by. I have a couple more projects to show you with this year's SAB goodies. Remember it finished on March 22nd, so if you have your eye on anything, drop me a line and I can hopefully help you out.

 

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Island Indigo, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Sycamore Street DSP

Ink: (SU) Island Indigo, SWM's in Pool Party and Summer Starfruit

Stamps: (SU) Madison Avenue (SAB '13), Loving Thoughts

Punches/Dies etc: (SU) Oval Framelits, Heaxgon EF

Other Bits: SAB Sycamore Street Ribbon and Button Pack, Dimensionals, Old retired button (centre of flower, white crochet twine

 

Lynda xx

 

 

 

Little Girls Simply love......

Good afternoon all.

Man have I been slack in posting!! I have been so busy starting out as a demo and then balancing a bunch of birthday's and other celebrations, there is oh so much to show you.

Given that I have a Miss 8 of my own, it goes without saying that I have a lot of little girl's cards and gifts to come up with. One that I have made a couple of times now is a lip gloss/balm butterfly. I find that EVERYONE likes butterflies, no matter what their age. There are many versions of these around in cyberspace, but these are what I have come up with.......

This first one has an orange glitter gloss in it that I picked up from my local Woolworths. It came in a 3 pack (with a pink and a clear one too) I used the colour of the lip gloss as the basis for my colour combination. Here is what the butterfly lip gloss holder looks like with CS only....

 

Seriously, they are very easy to do with the Beautiful Wings Bigz die and they are a massive hit. Here is the card and the small gift together......

 

 

The next set just kept getting added to. Miss 8 picked out the DSP and so this one is a mix of DSP and CS. Purely by chance the gloss colour was the same pink as the DSP!!! The gift was teamed with a small post it pad holder that I have done many times before (search this blog for post it holder for the links). I found the wee bead making set (also a dumb luck find in Big W) and then a ribbon embellishment and away we went. The small stamp on the present on the post it holder is from Pretty Petites, available until March 22nd in SAB with the matching punch. It is VERY cute and is brilliant for large cards and small. The card is a "Z" fold one.

 

 

 

 

Guaranteed smiles I promise.

 

Thanks for popping by. Plenty more to share...soon I hope.

 

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Island Indigo, Calypso Coral, Regal Rose, Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Doodlebug DSP "All Wrapped Up"

Ink: (SU) Regal Rose, Baja Breeze

Stamps: (SU) So Happy For You (ret), Pretty Petites (avail SAB 2013)

Punches, Dies, Embossing Folders: (SU) Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, 1 1/4Square Punch, Triple Layer Blossom Punch (ret), Petite Curly Label Punch (avail in SAB 2013), Cloudy Day Textured EF (avail in the new seasonal mini), 1 1/4 Scallop Circle punch, Carla Craft 1" circle punch,  Darice Floral EF

Other bits: Dimensionals, Coloured Glitter CS, Mini Pens fm Reject Shop, Rhinestones fm stash, Foam glitter No 7 fm stash

 

Lynda xx

Blokey Cards on a Rainy Day........

Morning all.

I hope this finds you all safe and dry...those living in Sydney that is. These past 2 days we have been hit by very strong winds and relentless rains. Some areas in NSW that have only had previous flood waters subside have once again been hit. Nature is indeed and angry mistress at present.

Now...question. Have you ever had an idea come to do at a very odd hour of the AM (usually 2-3AM) and not been able to go back to sleep because of it??? This is how these cards started. Like most....I struggle with male cards, but when I do one I like I tend to stick to the same layout etc until the next lightning bolt comes along!! Well This lightning bolt came in the guise of texture.

I have been having so much fun playing with all of my new SU goodies. The set I chose is the Feeling Sentimental which has some GORJUS old style images. I also used for the 1st time the Honeycomb EF and Coredinations CS (yes....hanging my head in shame). This is what I came up with in the rain yesterday......

 

I apologise for the lighting and background as these were taken in my daughter's room using her wash basket as a stand!!!

 

I ran 1 piece of Coredinations CS through the Honeycomb EF and then cut along the lines up the middle to get the 2 pieces. It gives the impression of a jagged line. Here they are close up. Remember you can click on the photo to get a larger look.

 

 

 I love the look the sing of the Coredinations CS gives. I cannot believe it has taken me SO long to try it. I also added antique Pewter brads to the centres of the penny farthing's wheels. Sponging the ovals and the sentiment pieces also helped I think.

 

 

 

Given the blokey feel of these cards I am going to enter these into the ATCAS card challenge this time round - Masculine.

Thanks for popping by today. Stay safe and most importantly be creative.

Stuff used:
CS: (SU) Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Well Worn DSP (ret), Coredinations CS - French Roast.
Ink: (SU) Early Espresso, Crumb Cake (sponging)
Stamps: (SU) Feeling Sentimental (SAB '13), Loving Thoughts
Dies etc: (SU) Ovals Framelits, Honeycomb EF, Lots of Tags Sizzlits
Other Bits: Dimensionals, Antique Pewter Brads, Sanding implement, Sponges

Lynda xx

Nothin' Says Love Like.....

Morning all,

 

 

Now...today is February 14th!! Usually I do not partake in all things Valentine's, but this year I was asked to make a card for a friend for his wife!! (have to give him props for at least being somewhat organised I guess.)

 

I have recently (gone a little nuts) acquired many new play things from the new mini catalogue. One of them was the "Hearts a Flutter" stamp set and co-ordinating dies. Seriously...it makes things oh so easy. I have been cruising a lot around the creative world as well and sort inspiration from 2 cards here and here.

 

I basically did a Direct CASE of Kerry's card, but added and extra matt of Pool Party just to bolster it a little bit, this is my version of Kerry's card.....

 

 

I also got to use some more of the SAB benefits (the Pool Party Ribbon) and the wee "Love" sentiment is from the Ciao, Baby! stamp set and cut out with the Petite Curly Label Punch available free with SAB and a $100 purchase. The hearts and tag sit on the embossed area on dimensionals.

 

 

The second option was based on Rebecca's card. I loved the idea that she had of the banners and hearts and then the simple sentiment. I did however change the colour palate to a bolder black, red and white.

 

 

 

I also dry embossed the WW background and the white hearts. I had the wee red heart buttons FOREVER in my stash...and they suited it perfectly!!

 

 

 

Last "romantic" notion I have to share with you is my gift to the Mum's I sit with on a Thursday afternoon whilst our daughter's dance. Lots of laughter is always had and we quite often share stories about the MEN in our lives....and how crap they are sometimes about certain occasions!! With that in mind...and a little help from Angie Kennedy Juda here...I made these. I figured with a girl you cannot go wrong with handbags and chocolate right??

 

 

I used the Sycamore Street DSP (avail for SAB) with the matching ribbon for the handles. The closures are a wee heart (der for Valentine's day) and a tag from the Tiny Tags stamp set. Here they are from the back and close up on the closure.....

 

 

 

The purses hold 2 Hershey Miniatures quite comfortably. The other wonderful thing about these purses is that from one 3" strip of 12 x 12 DSP you can make 2 purses with NO WASTE. Gotta love that!! I have decided to add these wee purses to the ATCAS #6 challenge here - being Candy....as the bag does hold candy, so I hope that is qualifies!!

 

Thanks so much for enduring a very detailed and picture laiden post. I hope you got some inspiration form it. Again, as I have used sooooo much new stuff, I will try and list it all. The items in italics are available for SAB. Thanks for popping by.

 

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Primrose Petals, Pool Party, Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red, Rich Razzleberry, Tangerine Tango, island Indigo, Sycamore Street DSP, Red Glitter CS - non SU

Ink: (SU) Primrose Petals, Crumb Cake, Real Red, Basic Black, Pool Party, Island Indigo, Tangerine Tango

Stamps: (SU) Hearts a Flutter, Loving Thoughts, Itty Bitty Banners, Ciao Baby!, Tiny Tags

Dies, Punches, Framelits and Embossing Folders: (SU) Petite Curly Label Punch, Jewellery Tag Punch, Banners Framelits, Hearts a Flutter Framelits, Adorning Accents EF, Chevron EF, Carla Craft CP2 heart, Carla Craft CP8 Hearts

Other Bits: Sycamore Street Ribbon Pack, Dimensionals, Mini Gold Brads from stash, Red Heart Buttons

 

Lynda xx