ESAD Christmas in July blog hop – welcome!

Hi & welcome to the ESAD Christmas in July blog hop. This is my first blog hop, so an extra big welcome if this is your first visit here.

If you're following the hop, you may have come from Susan's blog, but if not, you can join in by following the link at the end of each post. There are lots of great places to go, so if you get lost, there's a full list of all hoppers below.
I hope you're ready for the ESAD Christmas in July Blog Hop!

What is ESAD?

ESAD stands for Extra Special Australasian Demonstrators and it is an online group just for Australian and New Zealand demonstrators for Stampin' Up! We so love what we do and not only do we love to share it with our customers, friends, and wonderful blog visitors but we share our love for what we do with each other as Demonstrators.
We run swaps, challenges, tutorials, product know how and cyberstamps and we are always there to help and support each other when it's needed.

 So if you are a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator located in Australia or New Zealand, then please feel free to click here to join our wonderful group.

Now....onto my projects

Holiday Treasures Gift Card Folder

These gift card  folders are a lovely way to personalise giving a gift card & are one of my all time favourite projects. To make them, you just need a sheet of double sided paper, stamped images, ribbon & brads. I used a DSP from the 'Holiday Treasures' pack.

The Christmas tree image is from 'Fun & Fast Notes. It's water-coloured using my aquapainter with & ink pads. Of course, it's not Christmas without some Dazzling Diamonds glitter too. Here's the folder open inside.

I include 2 cards inside – one to write a message & one to hold a store card. The gift card is held in place with slits made with the slit punch. Here's a closer pic of the cards:

I've made lots of these over the years, but for this one, I fiddled with the measurements to make it a little bigger than previous ones. The final front is approx 10 x 14.5cm.

You can see more of my gift card folders here & the original tutorial I used by Andrea Hayes here.

And now for something completely different...

Desk Organiser & Notebook

My second project is this desk organiser & matching notebook.

This idea has been floating around in my head for a looong time, so thanks to this blog hop, I've finally gotten it out of my head & finished to show you. While it's not Christmas themed, I thought that Christmas also means the end of the school year teachers gifts. Of course, it would also make a lovely gift for any stationery obsessed friend too.

This idea came from a little post-it box I designed about a year ago (which somehow I never blogged!). I realised if I combined multiple sized boxes, I could make then into a little desk organiser. It's very solid too, as each of the boxes have double layers of cardstock & no raw edges. The main box is of course certainly celery (a fave if you don't know me!) & I used the gorgeous Urban Garden DSP, not quite navy card & celery grosgrain ribbon. Here are some more pics showing it empty & from the top:

...& this is the little notebook I covered in DSP to match. The quote is from the lovely 'Asian Artistry' hostess stamp set from the Autumn/Winter mini.

If you want some more facts, the organiser is approx 15cm long, 11cm high & 6cm deep & is made up of 3 separate boxes - a long box at the back, the original little post-it box & a pen holder. The measurements of the individual boxes are:

Long box: 15cm(l) x 11cm(h) x 3cm(d) (at highest point)

Post-it-box: 8cm x 8cm x 3cm (at highest point)

Pen holder: 6.5cm x 8cm x 3cm

You can see each of the boxes individually here:

Also before I finish & since I haven't shown it before, here's a pic of the original post-it box I designed.

Phew, that was a lot of pics. Thanks so much for stopping by & hanging in there. I hope you've enjoyed what you've seen &  I'd love to see some comments. If you have any questions about anything, drop me a line.

Now, get set to hop again, as your next stop on the blog hop is Paula.

...& if you're a little lost, here's a list of all the ESAD bloggers on the hop

Sonia Garbutt: http://stampinwithsonia.blogspot.com/2010/07/esad-christmas-in-july-blog-hop.html

Sharlene Torres: http://stampwithsharlene.blogspot.com/2010/07/merry-half-christmas-to-you.html
Nikki Sadler: http://www.inkyart.com.au/inkyart/2010/07/esad-christmas-in-july-blog-hop.html
Clare Mcilhatton: http://craftycowcreations.blogspot.com/2010/07/ho-ho-ho-hop-hop-hop.html
Leonie Schroder: http://www.stamp-a-latte.com/2010/07/24/christmas-in-july-blog-hop/
Gardenia Pepworth: http://alittlelessuseless.wordpress.com/2010/07/24/esad-christmas-in-july-blog-hop/
Susan Byers: http://susanstampcorner.wordpress.com/2010/07/24/christmas-in-july-blog-hop/
Narelle Hodges: http://stampwithnarelle.blogspot.com/2010/07/christmas-in-july-blog-hop.html
Bev Watt: http://stampinovation.blogspot.com/2010/07/esad-blog-hop.html
Carol-Ann Torrie: http://www.queen-of-scraps.blogspot.com/
Melissa Barkwith: http://melbarkwith.wordpress.com/2010/07/24/christmas-in-july-blog-hop/
Genelle Little: http://stampedecards.blogspot.com/2010/07/esad-christmas-in-july-blog-hop.html
Richelle Fletcher: http://stampinwithrichelle.blogspot.com/2010/07/esad-christmas-in-july-blog-hop.html
Angela Purdie: http://kintakards.webs.com/apps/blog/show/4337713-christmas-in-july-blog-hop
Katrina Criglington: http://www.katscraps.com/2010/07/its-christmas-in-july.html
Karen Southwell: http://kareniescrafts.blogspot.com/2010/07/esad-christmas-in-july-bloghop.html
Susan Joyce: http://catsinkcorporated.blogspot.com/2010/07/esad-su-christmas-in-july-blog-hop.html
Di Barnes: http://dianebarnes.blogspot.com/2010/07/esad-christmas-in-july-blog-hop-welcome.html (that’s me!)
Paula Fuller: http://stampingpawprints.blogspot.com/2010/07/esad-christmas-in-july-blog-hop.html
Claire Harrison: http://inkinclinations.blogspot.com/2010/07/its-finally-here.html
Shelley Stewart: http://stampin-shellz.blogspot.com/2010/07/esad-christmas-in-july-blog-hop.html
Linda craven: http://www.craventime2stamp.com/?p=1017
Vicki Were: http://stampinvickistyle.blogspot.com/2010/07/christmas-in-july-blog-hop.html

Supplies: All Stampin' Up! unless stated.

Holiday Treasures Gift Card Folder

Stamps: Fun & Fast Notes, Tiny Tags, Teeny Tiny Sentiments, Best Yet

Ink: black stayz on, riding hood red, old olive, summer sun classic ink pads

Card/Paper: Holiday Treasures DSP, choc chip, riding hood red, certainly celery, whisper white card

Accessories: dazzling diamonds glitter, two way glue, choc chip grosgrain ribbon, fire rhinestone brads, silver brad

Tools: slit punch, Big Shot, SU Top Note & Ovals dies, scallop oval & large oval punch

Desk Organiser

Stamps: Asian Artistry

Card/Paper: certainly celery, not quite navy, baja breeze card, Urban Garden DSP, purchased notebook (non SU)

Ink: not quite navy

Accessories: certainly celery grosgrain ribbon