Top note butterflies

As promised, I have more butterfly cards to show you today. These cards are all really simple & quick, but they're some of my recent favourites. I really liked the layout (what's not to love about that Top Note) & kept making cards with little variations. It's something I often do when I'm making my class prototypes, as I try to find one I like the best & what will work well in a class setting....or I just get carried away – especially with matching stamps & punches. Anyway, it's a little glimpse into my design process, so I hope you don't get too bored!

Working backwards, this was the last version I made, as a class project in April. I really liked how the polka dot butterflies (from Flight of the Butterfly) & polka dot background worked together. Each of the butterflies has a cardstock butterfly behind the stamped one to give some shadow & texture & I think the trio flower & brad finishes it off nicely.

This version was a March class project & was a farewell to the Summer Mini, plus a little sneak peek for the Autumn/Winter mini. The swirly butterflies (Butterfly Prints) were inked in pale plum & sponge daubered lightly around the edges in rich razzleberry to give a soft blended look. I carried the swirls through to the background using the 'Priceless' set. The base is pink pirouette base with pink pirouette ink rather than pale plum, as I liked how it looked with the razzleberry & thought it would make sharing supplies easier in a bigger group.

For this one, the butterflies are inked in pretty in pink & rich razzleberry, with razzleberry flowers & I used some Candy Lane DSP for the background & razzleberry flowers in the centre.

For this one, I created a different look using the hound's-tooth patterned butterfly (Butterfly Prints) & antennae stamps in pretty in pink & razzleberry. I also changed the centres to a rhinestone brad for a bit of bling.

That's all for this layout, finally but I've one final card to show you that I made at the same time. It was a case of one by Kellie too I think. I added some texture to the white background with my new polka dot embossing folder & some polka dot ribbon, plain side up.

Anyway, Thanks very much for visiting. I think that's all the butterflies I have for now. I'll be back next time with....I'm not sure yet, but I still have heaps to share. If you have any questions, just let me know.

Inky wishes, Di

PS: Just a reminder - the butterfly punch is still available even though it's from the Summer Mini.

Supplies (All Stampin' Up! unless noted)

Stamps: Flight of the Butterfly, Butterfly Prints (Summer Mini), Priceless, Polka Dot background, Whimsical Words (SAB 2010), Best Yet (L1 Hostess), Sincere Salutations

Card/Paper: pink pirouette, pretty in pink, pale plum, rich razzleberry card, Candy Lane DSP

Ink: pale plum, rich razzleberry, pretty in pink

Accessories: silver brads, clear rhinestone brads, razzleberry polka dot grosgrain ribbon

Tools: Top Note die, Polka dot textured impressions folder, punches – butterfly & trio flower, sponge dauber

Cottage Wall Top note handbags

I'm finally back to show you the second project we made at my Mother's Day class waaay back in April. This was my first class using the totally fabulous Stampin' Up! Top Note die for the Big Shot, which I'm so excited to finally have in our Catalogue. This bag is the first of many projects using one of our newest colours, – rich razzleberry. Anyway, before I waffle any more, here it is....

...& here's another one made from a different print from the 'Cottage Wall' pack.

The bag is made with rich razzleberry card, 'Cottage Wall' DSP & polka dot ribbon from the Autumn/Winter Mini Catalogue. The bag base is a one piece box with a lid, made from rich razzleberry card. I have I die that cuts this size box, but for the class, I put together a template to show everyone how to score & cut the box manually. Here's a pic of the basic box before you join the top notes.

For the sides, I glued a cardstock & DSP top note together then scored & folded it around the base. You'll definitely need your Sticky Strip tape to hold everything together securely. To make the box easy to open once the sides were attached, I included a punched large oval on the inside flap.

As an aside, I've recently become a fan of Partylites candles, thanks to my friend Kellie. Their mulberry scented candles smell beautiful & co-ordinate really well with rich razzleberry too. I;ve renamed them razzleberry! You can fit 2 votive candles & a tealight comfortably in this bag & as a bonus, the bag will smell beautiful too.

Candy Lane Bag & Card.

This is another bag & matching card that I made for a friend's birthday back in March using some 'Candy Lane' DSP. This one had some co-ordinating red 'apple orchard' candles inside. The punched butterflies were stamped with the 'Butterfly Prints' stamp set (from the Summer Mini - currently unavailable) & the greeting is from the Whimsical Words SAB set. Here's a pic of the bag on it's own - you can see the oval punch peeking out from the lid.

I cased the card from one by Kellie, who I think also cased her card from someone else. I've now spent an hour looking for he link & cannot find it for the life of me. Kellie, if you can find the link, can you please send it to me? 

This card reminds me I have some more butterfly cards to show you, but this will have wait until next time. Thanks very much for stopping by & I hope you liked the bag. I promise I'll be back with more to show you soon. If you'd like any more info on anything in the meantime, just drop me a line.

Inky wishes, Di

Supplies

Cottage Wall Handbag

Card/paper: rich razzleberry, pale plum, orchid opulence card, Cottage Wall DSP

Accessories: rich razzleberry polka dot ribbon, clear rhinestone brad
Tools: Top Note die, punches – 1 inch & ¾ inch circles, boho blossoms, large oval

Candy Lane handbag & butterfly card

Stamps: Butterfly Prints
Ink: riding hood red
Card/paper: pretty in pink, pink pirouette, riding hood red card, Candy lane DSP
Accessories: riding hood red tafetta ribbon, clear rhinestone brad, white grosgrain ribbon
Tools: Top Note die, punches – 1 inch & ¾ inch circles, trio flower, large oval, butterfly, scallop edge

Deal of the week 4 – all about bling

I can't believe we're up to deal 4 & June is almost over. Go figure! Anyway, & the last deal includes at least 40% off some more of my most used goodies – rhinestone brads, & ribbon (including celery - how did they know?)

If I could get some projects posted, you'd see how many of these rhinestone brads I've used, so hopefully, I can snag some time for photo taking & editing to show you some very soon.

In the meantime, here are all the items on sale until 30 June. If you'd like to stock up, just call or e-mail me by 30 June.

Item	Catty Page	Description	Regular Price	Sale Price	Discount
109113	149	Square Ice Rhinestone brads	$19.95	$11.97	40%
109111	149	Circle Ice Rhinestone brads	$19.95	$11.97	40%
109112	149	Square Fire Rhinestone brads	$19.95	$11.97	40%
111848	150	Bashful Blue 1" double-stitched grosgrain ribbon	$19.95	$10.97	45%
109050	151	Certainly Celery 5/8" grosgrain ribbon	$14.95	$8.97	40%

Inky wishes, Di

Deal of the week 3 – stamps on sale!

This week, we have another great deal for you. You'll receive 40-50% off the stamp sets listed below, from 16-22 June only. These are all really flexible sets & at these prices, they're great value.
Click on the stamp set names in the table to view them in our online Idea Book & Catalogue & contact me by Tuesday if you'd like to place an order.

Item	Page	Stamp Set	Regular Price	Sale Price	Discount
114263	34	A Happy Heart	$41.95	$20.98	50%
15792	57	Greetings Eight	$49.95	$24.98	50%
116330	78	Bella's Bloom	$24.95	$14.97	40%
113009	97	Enjoy Every Moment	$53.95	$26.98	50%
114283	105	All Scallops	$55.95	$27.98	50%

Bye for now,
Di

Deal of the Week 2 - Paper

It's time for a new deal of the week already & it's another of my favourites – paper...& lots of my favourite designs from this year too. Yay! From 9-15 June only, you'll receive 35-40% off the price of the Designer Series Paper (DSP) packs listed below. You can also click on the paper names below to see the cards & other projects I've used them in.

Item	Page	Description	Regular Price *	Sale Price *	Save
112470	132	Haiku	$16.95	$10.17	40%
113992	133	Tea Party	$16.95	$10.17	40%
113976	132	Pink Flamingo	$16.95	$11.02	35%
113975	133	Raspberry Tart	$16.95	$11.02	35%
114037	133	Sweet Slumber	$22.95	$14.92	35%

* excluding shipping & handling
To stock up on any of these papers at this great price, just contact me no later than next Monday night – 14 June.
Inky wishes, Di

Introducing...Deal of the Week

I'm back with a new & fab June deal for all of you. Each week during June, you'll get a different special deal on selected Stampin' Up! products. There are no limits on purchases other than you'll need to order deal items in the week they're on special, so don't forget to contact me to order yours.

Deal 1 is....PUNCHES!
Available from 1 – 8 June only

Now you all know I looooooove punches & I know lots of you do too, so this week is for you!
This week, you can buy the punches listed below for only $20.12 each (plus shipping & handling). That's 35% off the normal price of $30.95 each.

Scallop Square Punch (item 112081)
- Coordinates with "Say it with Scallops' set (p104) & 'Punches Three' sets - See this project
Trio Flower Punch (item 109183)
- Punches 3 cute daisy flowers in a row - see this project
Boho Blossoms Punch (110711)
- Punches 3 different layerable flowers & matches the 'One of a Kind' stamp set. See this project
Scallop Oval Punch (114889) –
- Coordinates perfectly with the large oval punch or on its own. See this project.

Just contact me by June 8^th at the latest if you'd like to place an order.
Inky wishes, Di

Birdie Joy for Mothers Day

Today's card is one I made for my wee Mum & Mother-in-Law Shirley for Mothers Day & was also one of my Mother's Day class projects. I wanted to do a fancy fold card, so thought a joy fold card would be fun.

The goodies I've used are some of my favourites from the Autumn/Winter Mini – cute new 2 step birdie punch, 'Cottage Garden' stamp set & gorgeous matching 'Cottage Wall' DSP, a greeting from the 'Teeny Tiny Sentiments' stamp set, not to mention new rich razzleberry ink & grosgrain ribbon.

'Cottage Garden' is a 2 step set, with the flowers having both a solid & outline image. These can match up perfectly, especially if you use a stamp-a-ma-jig, but unusually for me, I really liked seeing some of the white when it's not stamped exactly...as it is here. The base is pale plum card, which I think works so well with the Cottage Wall DSP. So sad this colour will be retiring in August.

Here's another view of the card, so you can see the joy fold better.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing this project. I'll be back to show you the second Mother's Day class project next time. Just drop me a line or leave some comment love if you have any questions. Thanks again for visiting.

Inky wishes, Di

PS: You can also see another joy fold using the Eastern Blooms set here.

Supplies:
Stamps:, Cottage Garden (clear mount), Teeny Tiny Sentiments (clear mount)
Card/Paper: pale plum, certainly celery & whisper white card, Cottage Wall DSP
Ink: rich razzleberry & pale plum ink pads
Accessories: rich razzleberry polka dot grosgrain ribbon
Tools: xl 2 step birdie punch

Join the fun & save

As I mentioned in my last post, Stampin' Up! announced at Convention that from May 21 to July 31, you can purchase our Starter Kit for an amazing 20% off. This means you'll receive over $560 of Stampin' Up! products for just $259, as well as saving $65 off the regular starter kit price.

You can choose to include the items Stampin' Up! recommends in your kit, or change many items to suit you (ie stamp sets, ink pads, cardstock etc). What a great way to get lots of goodies on your wishlist.

That's just the start of the benefits you'll receive as a Demonstrator. You'll:

• Receive a great discount on everything you buy after you join.
• Get to pre-order new catalogue goodies before they're available to customers.
• Receive a monthly Demonstrator magazine & have access to Stampin' Up!'s brand new online Demonstrator Community – Stampin' Connection, for tons of ideas & inspiration.
• Be able to share with other demonstrators in person, online & at Stampin' Up! events like Convention & Regional training.
• Have the choice to do workshops & build a business, or do it just for you!

Sign up with me & you'll be part of my Diamonds Stampers team, which means I'll be here to support you. You'll also have access to my online team site, where we can share projects, ideas or just chat.

Ready to join...
You don't even have to wait for paper documents, as you can sign up online on my Stampin Up! Demonstrator Website by clicking the Join Now button. You'll just need the following info ready:

• Australian Business Number (ABN).....which you get here
• Your personal details
• Payment Details (Mastercard or Visa)
• Recruiter Password: my password is "happystamping"
• Your choice of starter kit products.

Sound great? If you'd like more information check out the info on my Stampin Up! Demonstrator Website & contact me for a chat.
Inky wishes, Di

PS: Keep your eyes on my website from tomorrow morning & you'll see some great June deals for everyone.

Top notes & my convention adventure

Howdy again! I've decided to start showing you my newest project & work backwards, so here's my swap for last weekend's awesome Stampin' Up! annual Convention in Sydney. It's a gift card folder made with my favourite Big Shot die, the SU Top Note. 

Inside the folder, there are two pockets made with folded DSP - one section holds a gift card & one holds a card to write a message to the recipient. The back of the folder is decorated too. The white & kraft panel is actually cut at the base, as it was too bulky to fold. The flowers are sponged in the centre with a sponge dauber & baja breeze ink - a quick & effective way to add subtle colour.

The folder was inspired by a gift card folder made as a convention swap made by Sharon Turnbull in 2008 (I don't think Sharon has a blog). You can see my version of her swap here.

To make the cover, I folded a piece of baja breeze card & laid it just inside one of the cutting edges of the Top Note die, so that one side wouldn't be cut. On a few of the swaps, I made the pouches with a note card envelope, as I didn't have enough DSP. The envelope was more in keeping with Sharon's original swap. If you'd like to know anything else about the swap or would like to come to a class to make your own, just drop me an e-mail, or just leave me a comment to say hi! I do love hearing from you.

Talkin' about convention...

This was my third convention & always, it was an amazing experience from start to finish. It's hard to describe the atmosphere, but imagine almost 500 super excited Demonstrators in one place, swapping, laughing, chatting & sometimes squealing in delight as you find friends, team members, online buddies or someone you've admired for ages. That's before you even get to our inspirational leader Shelli Gardner, the fantastic presentations from the US Stampin' Up! staff & a crew of very talented Aussie Demonstrators. Getting the picture?

Even though Convention was in my home town of Sydney, my fab friends Kellie, Leanne & I decided to stay at the Oaks Hotel near the Convention Centre for a bit more spoiling (it didn't necessarily turn out that way thanks to 2 fire alarm evacuations in the wee small hours of Friday, but that's another story). Our little group was completed with Cathy, one of my lovely Diamond Stampers team members & Anamaria, from Leanne's team, both of whom had their first convention experience. Here we all are with Shelli & new friend, Kim (l-r: Kim, me, Cathy, Shelli, Leanne, Anamaria & Kellie)...this was on Saturday arvo - boy I look tired!

Of course, a big part of the fun is meeting up & swapping with old & new Demo friends from all over Australia & New Zealand, & this year was no exception. I was very excited to catch up again with the gorgeous Sarah Klass, Karen Rogers& Chrissie Allen & meet some new & lovely ladies too, including, Kim & Krysta & Sarah Jane. I would have liked to find so many more Demonstrators I admire, but there were so many people, it was a little hard to find everyone.

There were so many fantastic swap ideas shared, many of which were displayed on idea boards. Even better, pics of all the swaps submitted to SU will also be available on our new online Demonstrator Community - Stampin' Connection, so Demonstrators who can't make it to Convention can see them too.

Oh, & did I mention we received 3 brand new stamp sets from our new  upcoming Idea Book & Catalogue which is coming in September & saw some sneak peeks of some more new goodies, I can't show you any pics of the new goodies for quite a while yet, but I'm sure you'll love them! I'm also looking forward to trying lots of the ideas we were shown for our current goodies & sharing them with you.

After all the day sessions on Friday & Saturday, the finale was our Awards Dinner, which was such a lovely way to end the our experience. It was an extra special night for Leanne too as she earned a sales award this year, which was fabulous. Go Lea! Here we are again all dressed up.

The food looked & tasted delicious & the room looked so beautiful too - I have to show you the centrepiece that was on each table.

So, as you can imagine, it's been a bit hard getting back to the day to day this week after all this excitement.

I've started counting down already to next year's convention though, which will be 3 fabulous days in Melbourne from May 12-14 next year (with maybe an extra shopping day... or two Kellie?). There will also be Regional Training days over Australia between September & November (including Sydney on November 20) to keep us going until then. So all I have left to say is, who wants to come with me?

Not a Demonstrator yet? - no problem! Stampin' Up! announced a fabulous offer at Convention just for you & I'll be back to tell you about it... or check out the link at the top right of my side bar if you can't wait.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing my swap & hearing about my convention adventures. This could be my longest post ever, so if you've gotten this far, well done & thanks a lot for visiting & persevering.
Inky wishes, Di

Supplies: Convention Swap
Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral, Best Yet (Hostess L1)
Card/Paper: baja breeze, whisper white, kraft cardstock, Baja Breeze Patterns DSP (or note card envelope)
Ink: baja breeze ink pad
Accessories: kraft taffeta ribbon,
Tools: Top note die, punches – scallop oval, large oval, sponge dauber

Thanks so much

Well, it's been a while, certainly a lot longer than I planned, but before I get into showing you some projects, I really want to acknowledge the kindness of 3 lovely women. In the last couple of weeks, I've been given this Beautiful Blogger Award...

by...

Karen Rogers, who I'm sending a huge toot toot to - she was named no.7 NZ Demonstrator of the year at Convention. You rock Karen!

Andrea Karadimos, who I'm so proud to say is a fabulous member of my SU Diamond Stampers team, not to mention a fab scrapper & card maker.

Val West, whose cool blog I've just discovered.

Please check out these great ladies' blog if you haven't already.

The rules of the award are that I must pass on the award to 5 more beautiful bloggers & tell you 10 things about me. Well, it's hard to narrow it down to 5 bloggers, as I'm so inspired by so many people, but here goes....

Kellie – Convention roomie, friend extraordinaire & fab papercrafter, all in one package!
Leanne –Stamping technique queen & inspiring friend.
Cathy – Diamond Stampers team member, new blogger & fab card maker.
Sam –What can I say? I don't think there's anything creative this girl can't do fabulously.
Kim – Super talented papercrafter & new convention buddy. So glad we met, Kim.
If you're after even more inspiration, please also check out the blogs on the right column, as they're all so inspiring.

And 10 things about me...try to stay awake if you can.

1. A good description of me is 'disorganised perfectionist'. I saw it on a notebook & thought it was perfect!
2. One of my favourite things to do is go to the movies with my gorgeous husband, even though it doesn't happen so often now.
3. I'm a Twilight fan who's totally team Jacob...even before Taylor Lautner was cast.
4. I have a habit of using quotes from movies in general conversation... which is fine when people realise it's a quote, but I can get some strange looks otherwise.
5. I'm generally quite shy & quiet when I meet new people, but very talkative when you get to know me – just ask Kellie.
6. I'm very passionate about the people & things I love....which sometimes helps the shyness.
7. I really love new shoes, but can't justify as many gorgeous high heel purchases since I left the corporate world behind.
8. I'm a bit of a gadget girl & looove my laptop, ipod & iphone.
9. Talking about my iphone, my favourite ringtones are 'New Shoes' by Paulo Nutini, Soul Bossa Nova (theme from Austin Powers), Ordinary World by Duran Duran & Supermassive Black Hole by Muse
10. My life is full of many, many more blessings than I can possibly count & I'm so thankful for.

Well, that took a while.....especially since Word crashed while I was writing & didn't recover the info! (grrr!)Thanks for hanging in there & I'll be back with my convention swap & round-up.
Inky wishes, Di :0)