Tuesday 26 May 2009

Last chance


..........to become a Stampin' Up! demostrator for the bargain price of $150. Whether just for your own personal discount, or to make a career out of it, or anything in between.

It is also the last chance to get a free designer series paper set of your choice (when you buy 3).
Here is a quick card I made using the cool set, totally tools, and some paper from the designer series paper, Urban Garden. It is all ready to add a sentiment to, whether it is thanks, happy birthday, thinking of you, or happy fathers day.
Just drop me a line if you want more information, or call of course.


Give me a yell, if you are interested...

Friday 22 May 2009

Challenges

I have had heaps of fun doing a couple of challenges set on one of our Stampin' Up! groups.....
This 1st one was to be male, take 10 minutes, and feature a circle. My circle turned into an oval. OOps. This is a great stamp set for men. You can use it for thank yous, and birthdays, or fathers day. All those times you have trouble thinking of something for the man in your life, all you have to do is pull out the 'totally tools' set. I have also used a cut from the Urban Garden designer series paper, and our current in colours.


This next one wasn't a challenge, but i had all of the stuff out and leftover paper i thought I would make a card for my girlfriend who is having a birthday next week. This was one of those rare occassions when you have something in your head, and when finished you go, 'oh I really love that' and 'gee that was clever idea'. Which occured when I decided to tie the linen thread around the grosgrain ribbon to make a super cute bow.
This layout was then done for a sketch challenge. I had to drag out some old photos (I love that about a challenge, as sometimes you don't have what suits the theme of the challenge), and the papers, again Urban Garden, were perfect for our Fiji honeymoon pics. All of the products in this layout are Stampin' Up! (oh except the title, thanks thickers). So for the not quite converted, yes you can scrap just as beautifully with Stampin' Up! TFLOk I better put the washing on, I have been meaning to do it all day. Mark is off to the footy tonight, so I plan to relax tonight with a movie and maybe do a layout, as I am working tomorrow night. Enjoy your weekend.

Cheers Kaz

Tuesday 19 May 2009

Hi there,.

all is good here in the Yates household. I am still doing the same - working and trying to fit in some play. Mark had a little break from his training schdeule, but has started running again because i think he is bored senseless. He is also very happy with the Cats at the moment.
Harry is getting nervous about starting school, as we have started talking about it, he can't comprehend it is still 8 months away.
Emmy is day time toilet trained for a week now, with only 1 accident day.
Here is the little treasure enjoying a play. This was done for www.rememberwhen.com.au
for a sketch challenge. Tricky colours, but i think it works.


Ok I must stop watching crap on Foxtel whilst hanging out on facebook. It is stealing my sleep away.

xxxx

Saturday 16 May 2009

A couple of layouts

Hi all, I thought I would pop in and share some layouts I came across in my tidy up tonight. They were in a pile, awaiting a date , they were completed at the retreat I did in November last year, I am pretty sure anyway. The first one is my SIL at her 30th in Geelong last year. We all had a really fun day.


The next one is of Harry and his cousin Bain, dressed as spiderman. They have such fun playing together, although in this picture you can tell it is the end of the day, they were both tired. The paper is Kaisercraft.

Then this one is of Emmerson and our dog Taffy. Taff is the most amazingly placid dog you will ever come across. She puts up with alot from the kids, who love her to bits. I love this picture, it is so tender. Emmy is not always so gentle with Taffy. This layout features ALL Stampin Up products. So for those out there who didn't realise it, we have more than just inks and stamps, the creative world is endless at Stampin' Up!

Ok Night, sweet dreams xxxooo

Friday 15 May 2009

have a Great weekend


Hi there on this chilly friday night. It has been raining a little tonight, which is a relief, because it has been threatening to all day. I had a lovely couple of red wines with the girls from work. Above is a layout I did for a colour challenge back in April for Remember When Paper Company. it has a white strip on the right, it isn't cut out.

I wanted to share a card I made last week for my lovely friend Sarah, and I made a second one for my dear cousin Amy who both had birthdays. I uses Stem Silhouettes again, it is a very cute and versatile stamp set. Boring old me used Urban Garden designer series paper. I hope you both had a wonderful day.

I am planning on a slow day tomorrow. Some laundry and clean the damn toilet probably, that is such a chore, because I know it will be yuk again within the day, LOL. I have been hunting down bunk beds for Harry, so we will have a spare bed for mates when they stay and when we have house guests, as Emmy can then go in with him and the guest can have Emmy's room. I found one I love, but it only comes in white, and today i discovered a local guy who should be able to make it from a picture, so i am hopeful he will be reasonably priced and I will be set.

I just watched Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2, which is a nice leighthearted movie. i need to go to bed now. Emmy woke at 0530 this morning and was not interested in snuggling for a little nap in mums bed. I am working tomorrow night too, so best get some beauty sleep.

xxxxxx

Tuesday 12 May 2009

This was emailed to me today, and I thought it would be more fun to put my answers here (beware it takes awhile to complete, but I would love to read your own responses on you blog!)

1. What time did you get up this morning? - some ungodly hour (0645 ish)
2. Diamonds or pearls? - yes diamonds please
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? - Shopoholic in Port Macquarie
4. What is your favourite TV show? - oh jeez, I love alot, just enjoyed watching True Blood, I love SYTYCD, and am enjoying what i get to see of Master chef. I love many really, too many to list. Some not on any more
5. What do you usually have for breakfast? - Toast,can't go past it, unless you wanna buy me eggs benedict
6. What is your middle name? - Michelle
7. What food do you dislike? - Silverside/corned beef, chocolate topping/milo etc
8. What is your favourite CD at moment? - probably Duffy or The Frey
9. What kind of car do you drive? - Mazda Tribute (black CX 9 in my dreams)
10. Favourite sandwich? - something fresh and tasty, with cheese, sundried toms, ham or chicken
11. What characteristic do you despise? - despise, hmm
12. Favourite item of clothing? - I love my new black winter coat
13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? - Tahiti or Maldives
14. Favourite brand of clothing? - well it was ESPRIT, now it is Now, PMSL
15. Where would you retire to? - a nursing home probably, cause i will be as demented as all hell
16. What was your most recent memorable birthday? - this one coming, otherwise my 30th was awesome
17. Favourite sport to watch? - not really fussed, don't mind a bit of gymnastics or diving at the olympics.
18. Furthest place you are sending this? - around the world
19. Person you expect to send it back first? - probaly no one, I have you all on Google reader though
20. When is your birthday? - in October
21. Are you a morning person or a night person? - night, see I am still up now!
22. What is your shoe size? 8.5 - 9
23. Pets? - Taffy dog, (RIP Buffy)
24. Any new and exciting news you’d like to share with us? - I am having a fun weekend with Annie soon
25. What did you want to be when you were little? - nurse or police woman
26. How are you today? - fine, thanks you
27. What is your favourite candy? - columbines
28. What is your favourite flower? - any if you are buying
29. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? May 30th, see answer to 24!
30. What's your full name? Karen Michelle Yates nee Martin
31.What are you listening to right now? Chelsea Lately on Foxtel
32. What was the last thing you ate? Mandarin
33. Do you wish on stars? sometimes
34. If you were a crayon, what colour would you be? - I wouldn't be a crayon
35. How is the weather right now? - chilly I assume, who knows the heating is cranking (sorry earth)
36. The first person you spoke to on the phone today? - Dad
37. Favourite soft drink? - Pepsi Max
38. Favourite restaurant? - Montezumas mexican in Parkdale
39.Real hair colour? - Grey
40. What was your favourite toy as a child? - my sister, LMAO, kidding, um probably Susie, baby alive
41. Summer or winter? - I am not fussed, I hope I am not one to complain about the weather, that shits me, get a jumper or go for a swim, move on people!
42.Hugs or kisses - I crave both
43.Chocolate or Vanilla? - Vanilla
44. Coffee or tea? - Coffee
45. Do you want your friends to email you back? - it is usually a good laugh
46. When was the last time you cried? - bloody watching Greys Anatomy and Bondi Vet last week
47. What is under your bed? - dust
48. What did you do last night? - the usual, TV, computer
49. What are you afraid of ? - I am not keen on snakes
50. Salty or sweet? - salty
51. How many keys on your key ring? - 2
52. How many years at your current job? - 2
53. Favorite day of the week? Friday
54. How many towns have you lived in? depends if you count suburbs of Melbourne as seperate? if so 10
55. Do you make friends easily? - of course
56. How many people will you send this to? - the big wide wed world, millions (maybe)
57. How many will respond? - haven't you already asked this?

Ok I hope you are so muc more knowledgeable about me now. Emmy is coughing up a lung so I must go.

Catch

Something for you to look at..

Here Is a layout i did when I was guest blogger for RW Paper Company. I love getting out some really old photos to scrap. We are often so focues on the recent ones, we forget we have hundreds of photos sitting in albums collecting dust. Now to go prepare something for my Thursday post, I hope some of you are enjoying the inspiration over there at http://rememberwhen.com.au/blog/ , especially on a Thursday, hehe. I love my 2 day working weeks, the 3 day ones just take up too much of my week with work! Not enough time for family time, me time, or even housework time! But I have only 18 more sleeps before I hit the town with my bosom buddie and sole girl friend Annie. We are staying in Richmond, and going to just laze around with a bottle or two of wine and scrap/make cards, go to Wicked (can't wait), and then see pink the next night. So greedy, hehe, but we so DESERVE it!
Catch ya

Sunday 10 May 2009

Thanks thanks thanks

I have to say a huge thank you to Chris , from Gailforce Stampers for the beautiful headers she makes for me. How bloody awesome does it look? I LOVE IT. Chris you are so clever, and it is so generous of you to give your time to make something special for me. MWAH! This is my all time fave, and it is perfect with my divine Aqua Poppy background, which are free backgrounds, thanks Aqua Poppy too.

Here is a little card I made for a friend who has had her second baby boy recently. I embossed the boat (from nursery necessities stamp set) the in my new white SU emboss powder onto kiwi kiss, which I then used the scallop punch to punch it out, I also used the Pacific Point ribbon again. The paper is from the SU designer series paper - Urban Garden. The Little Bundle Joy is from the Punches Three set, which is a hostess reward only. I used a blender pen so I could use the pacific point ink to coulur a section of the stamp only.

To all of the mothers out there, I hope you enjoyed the day. I got some very sweet cards made by the kids, and the novel Marley and me, well done Mark (hehe). I also bought myself (among other things, inclusing recently A Wii fit) a workout DVD - Biggest loser Fit and Trim. There was a bootcamp one too, but I didn't feel ready for that yet LOL. Need to kick some fat but out the door asap!

OK I am off to finish off a layout, which I am loving, and rest after night duty last night.

Cheers people

Friday 8 May 2009

A treat for my mum


Yep, she always gets double goodies at this time of the year, because her birthday is on the second, and then she gets mothers day. My sissy and I tried to give her some perfume, but it made her sneeze all night, oops. So instead we thought we would treat her to a nice hair do, thanks to my dear friend Andrea.

I thought it would be nice to give her it in the form of a gift voucher. And what better way than some of my new Stampin' Up! goodies. This stamp set is so divine, it is called Upsey Daisy, even the name is cute. The clours are the new in colours, Kiwi Kiss, Pacific Point and with a dash of trusted Very Vanilla cardstock. And I love the ribbon, it is the Pacific Point striped Grosgrain.
I just received my most recent order, and I have a brayer, so I am very excited to try it out. So stay Tuned..
Not much on this weekend, thank goodness, I need some time to regroup after a busy few weeks.
Ok night..

Wednesday 6 May 2009

Sailing away

... to work that is, blah.
I thought I would give you something to look at while I was slaving away at work. This is a cute little card I did for the RW paper company blog a couple of weeks back, you can see lots of creativity and inspiration and challenges there - www.rememberwhen.com.au/blog
I loved this little boat and thought it just screamed going away card. The card features some of my fave simple but effective techniques - inking and edge distressing.
Have a great day.


Monday 4 May 2009

There are no mistakes...

in scrapbooking (or cardmaking), only design changes. Hehe.


I just wanted to share with you 2 of the projects from our make and takes at the Stampin' Up! convention. Now we had 4 projects to make and only 90 minutes to make them. So it was a huge rush. I completed 3 of them, but made some slight changes. The LO was a fold up layout, and I didn't want to do that, because I wanted to keep it as a 12 x 12, so i could use it (I am not much into mini albums). The placement of items is also slightly different too. I also made 2 cards, one we gave to the manager at the hotel where we were staying because she was very helpful, and the other is here somewhere. The last project I didn't get complete. It was 4 cute little gift cards in a sweet packet. I completed it this morning though with major design changes. I made it into 2 mothers day cards instead. Much more practical and useful for me.




OK I really need to go do some housework. I have been putting it off all morning. I have finally added Google reader to my favourites, so I can stop wasting time checking blogs that haven't been updated. Hello to those who have me on their reader. Mwah! Trying to be organised, in keeping with my 2009 word - BALANCE.

Working the next 3 days, so see you soon,

Sunday 3 May 2009

Fun at Convention

Wow I have just had a fun weekend away in Canberra for my first annual Stampin' Up! convention. I was inspired and motivated in all aspects of my life, but overall enjoyed good company and good food (and wine, hehe).
This card is the card our team did as a little shoebox swap, although there were no shoeboxes involved, oh until I went to Canberra Centre and bought a new pair of shoes. This was my trial run card, the finished one we made had the sentiment in the darker blue and the stamped images were embossed, which looked 100% better. I love this stamp set, called Pocket silhouettes, too cute. The ribbon is divine too isn't it, kiwi kiss/very vanilla satin ribbon and it also features Urban Garden Designer series paper. Yummo. The colours are from the new In Colour, Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss and Baja Breeze (that's Baha, not Ba ja, I loved stirring Gail about that all weekend). The base is Kraft, which is so versatile and so "in" at the moment.

Now if any of you have ever thought about joining Stampin' Up!, whether for hobby purposes to get the permanent discount on all of your supplies, or to start a new career, or anything in between, but couldn't afford it, now is the time for you.....

Because you can join this month for only $150.00, WOW

SCRAPBOOKING STARTER KIT PROMOTION
Dates: 1 May - 1 June 2009
Promotion Details :
In celebration of National Scrapbooking Month, join Stampin’ Up! as a demonstrator for only $150 with our limited-time Scrapbooking Starter Kit. The Scrapbooking Starter Kit contains the following:

Item Code Description Retail Value
112231 Schoolbook Serif Alphabet stamp set* $77.95
113059 Simply Scrappin' Petal Party $36.95
108697 Earth Elements Assorted textured card stock (12" x 12") $21.95
105216 Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad $11.95
103179 Craft & Rubber Scissors $37.95

(*Substitutable for any stamp set up to $77.95 value)

Please note: Each of the products listed above may be substituted for like items.

The Scrapbooking Starter Kit also contains all the business supplies contained in the standard Starter Kit:
Getting Started DVD
Getting Started Guide
Guest Invitation Postcard (100)
Idea Book & Catalogue (8)
To My Hostess Envelope (10)
Project Sample Sheet
Recruit Brochures (20)
Hostess Brochure (20)
Hostess Benefits Form (10)
Customer Order Form (50)

This promotion is a very cheap way to get all of the products on your wishlist for a fab discount or start your very own business, with my team and I for support. For more information please see the website - http://www.stampinup.com.au/ and/or give me a call/email for any other queries.
The other MAY special is : Buy three packs of select Designer Series paper ($16.95 each), and get one FREE! The paper selections are gorgeous and feature birds, owls, flowers, silhouette images and more. With 14 designer series paper packs to chose from there is sure to be several to suit your style and taste (page 132 - 135 of catalogue).
If you still haven't received the current Ideas Book and Catalogue then please contact me. All orders over $100 will receive one for free, or if you host a workshop you also receive one for free. Otherwise I can post one to you for $12.50 (incl P & H).
Hope you all had a wonderful weekend, I will be back soon with some creations with some new things I learnt on the weekend.

Cheers Karen