Wendy Todd - Independent Stampin' Up!® Demonstrator

12 Days of Christmas Projects - Day Six

Welcome to Day Six of my 12 Days of Christmas Projects series! I'm so excited to share today's project with you, it's definitely one of my favourites. For me, Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without crackers! And that's what we're making today. So, without further ado, please enjoy today's tutorial and don't forget to send in a photo or two of the projects you create this week!

Click here to download the PDF Cracker Template

I'll be back tomorrow with the printable PDF Instructions and a full supplies list. 

12 Days of Christmas Projects - Day Five

Welcome to Day 5 of my 12 Days of Christmas! Today we're going to make this cute Acetate Christmas Card, using the dyed glitter that we created yesterday when we made the Glitter Ornaments. I hope you enjoy today's project and I look forward to seeing your own creations using this tutorial! Feel free to email photos to me anytime!

Click Here to Download Day Five PDF Instructions

12 Days of Christmas Projects - Day Four

Welcome to Day Four of my 12 Days of Christmas Project Tutorial Series! Thanks for joining me today for another fun Christmas project! I just love this time of year! I hope you enjoy today's project -we're making some gorgeous Glitter Ornaments using Stampin' Up!'s Classic Reinkers and Dazzling Diamonds Glitter. Have fun!

12 Days of Christmas Projects - Day Three

Day Three already! Today we're making a really cute fold-down Christmas Card. I first saw the basic design for this card over at Two Peas in a Bucket and I knew right away that I wanted to make my own version with my SU supplies. Love how this card turned out! Enjoy!

Click Here to Download Day Three PDF Instructions

12 Days of Christmas Projects - Day Two

Today we're making this adorable Chocolate Treat Gift Box. Don't you just love it? This little gift makes a great teacher's gift or stocking filler. So cute you almost don't want to ruin it by eating the chocolates! Almost...

So here's today's video and I'll be updating this post later today with the link to the PDF Instructions. Enjoy!

 

Click here to download Day Two PDF Instructions

Stamps: Cute & Curly (Curly Label Punch Bundle)

Papers: Holiday Wishes DSP, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip

Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red

Accessories: Chocolate Chip Wide Grosgrain, Linen Thread, Curly Label Punch, Sticky Strip

Christmas Gift Card Wallet with a difference

I have a bonus project for you today. I'll be back later in the day with my 12 Days Project, but I wanted to share this little beauty with you first. I created this Christmas Card for the So Shelli November Challenge. Shelli's challenge this month was to share our Holiday Cardmaking projects with her. I wanted to think outside the box a little and create something that was more than just a Christmas Card. I have a few gift cards as gifts this year, so I decided to come up with something to incorporate a Gift Card that would add a little "wow" factor for the recipient. I was shopping in Coles the other day and found the inspiration I needed for this special project. They had some Gift Card Wallets and one of them was a pop up card, where the gift card slides down inside the pop up insert. Naturally, the wallets on offer at Coles were a little "bleh" in design (not a single stitch of ribbon on the whole thing! Tragedy!), so I brought one home to copy the template for the pop up bit and made my own version of it. Here is the result:

This is the view from the outside of the card. I've used the gorgeous Striped Riding Hood Red ribbon from the Spring Mini Catalogue (only 5 days left to order this stunning ribbon! Email Me Now if you'd like to own some for yourself!). "Wow!" You say? "What a gorgeous Christmas Card!" Why, I thank-you, but this is sooooo much more than just a gorgeous Christmas Card. Just you wait 'til you see inside this treasure! Take a peek:

 

 

This is what you see inside the card when you first open it up. That green section in the middle is like a gift box that is stuck to the centre of the card and the gift card insert pokes into the top of the pop up box part. So cute! The photos really do not do this card justice. It is just so adorable. I can't wait to give it to the recipient on Christmas Day and see their face as they open it up! Anyway, so you just pull the ribbon bow up to take out the Gift Card Insert and voila: You have your gift card...

So, what do you think? Do you love it? I was so excited with how it turned out. It was definitely a labour of love, though! Quite a few Sticky Strip errors along the way, but I got there in the end and I'm really pleased with the result. I hope Shelli likes it, too! 

12 Days Of Christmas Projects - Day One

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas! Today I am introducing my 12 Days of Christmas Project Series. Over the next 12 days, I'll be sharing a video tutorial and printable PDF download with instructions to create a different Christmas-themed project each day. Today we're making a Chocolate Slider Gift Package. Enjoy! And please leave a comment to let me know what you think!

Click Here to Download Day One Project PDF Instructions  

Stamps: Cute & Curly (from the Curly Label Punch Bundle)

Papers: Ski Slope Designer Series Paper, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red

Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, Chocolate Chip Wide Grosgrain Ribbon, Paper Snips, Sticky Strip, Curly Label Punch 

M's Sketch Challenge #4 with another sneak peak!

I created today's card as my entry for M's Sketch Challenge #4. What a clever girl to come up with such fantastic sketches at her age! So, I wanted to make my card using another new stamp set coming soon in our Summer Mini Catalogue to be released on December 1st. This too-cute giraffe is part of a set called "Animal Stories". Adorable! I can see some great possibilities for gorgeous baby cards, kid's birthday cards and invitations... Not to mention absolutely stunning layouts of the munchkins! Such a cute set.

I hope M likes my card using her sketch. It was a lot of fun to create!

If you would like to see more sneak peaks of new products coming in our Summer Mini Catalogue, become a fan of my Facebook Page today! More sneak peaks coming up this week! 

A sneak peak of Something Sweet!

Today's card is a combination of two challenges that I wanted to take part in. The first is a sketch challenge over at our team blog, Elite Challenges. The second is a colour challenge by Dawn McVey. I love how this card turned out. So cute! To think Ididn't initially like this stamp set! After borrowing my friend's set today to create this card, Ithink I'll have to buy the set myself!

One of the most exciting parts of being a demo is that we get EARLY access to new stamps and accessories with each new catalogue release. The Summer Mini Catalogue starts on December 1st, but demos were able to begin ordering from it on November 3rd. I love being a demo! I've been having a great time playing with lots of yummy new stamps and accessories, so keep an eye on the blog here and over on My Facebook Page for more sneak peaks at new yummies!

If you'd like more information about the benefits of being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, please email me or give me a call on 0402 120 972 and I'd be happy to get an information pack out to you. 

Cardmaking with Gift Wrap!

Recently, we attended my husband's work Christmas picnic in Sydney. It was a fantastic day, really well organised and the kids had a wonderful time getting their faces painted, playing on rides, meeting Santa... the list of activities was so impressive! Santa also gave both boys a really fantastic present, wrapped in this gorgeous wrapping paper. I decided on the spot that I wanted to send the organising committee a thank-you card. I told hubby to keep the wrapping paper so that I could use it on the card I planned to make. And here is the result. I love how it turned out. I CASEd the layout from a design by Dawn McVey (SUCH a fan of her work!) and just matched the colours to those in the gift wrap.

It's so easy to use pretty gift wraps in your cardmaking. Just use them in place of patterned papers. Simple! A really great idea for beginners, too, who don't yet have the stash of patterned papers that we more seasoned papercrafters have acquired!

I hope you like today's card and the idea of using gift wrap in your cardmaking. To ensure you don't miss my future projects and ideas, be sure to click the link in my left sidebar "subscribe in a reader". This will subscribe you to all of my future blog updates in a reader of your choice.

Stamps: Signature Greetings by PTI

Papers: Real Red, Whisper White, unknown gift wrap

Ink: Real Red

Accessories: Apron Lace border punch by Fiskars, Green Satin Ribbon, Buttons from my stash, Cotton Thread
 

Stamping With Kids

My son loves to stamp. I admit, it's not like he had much of a choice about taking up this hobby with this hopelessly addicted mother, but nonetheless, he loves it. So quite often when a family birthday comes up (especially that of any of the grandparents), I rope him in to help with the birthday card creation. And I must say, for a just-turned-3 year-old, he's quite good! Last weekend was Grandpa's birthday, so Sam and I sat down at the craft table and went to work. I chose some ink colours, gave him a blank piece of Whisper White cardstock and some of the circle image stamps from Seeing Spots stamp set. Then, I let him at it.  Sam created a beautiful patterned paper ready for me to use on the front of Grandpa's card.

When he was done, I began to cut his stamped patterned paper to the size I wanted for the card, only to be shouted at! I was told, in no uncertain terms, "Mum! No! You wrecked it!" After some sorting out of differing opinions, my budding artist was allowed a larger role in the cardmaking-for-Grandpa task. We had a lovely time creating and chatting together and Sam was so proud of his card for Grandpa that upon completion, he promptly ran around the house showing Daddy and Riley his handiwork.

The finished masterpiece was signed on the back by baby-Botticelli himself and is now proudly displayed on Grandpa's TV cabinet. Note to self: next time, cut down the cardstock to desired size before letting the artist loose!

And here it is -Grandpa's birthday card, stamped and mostly designed by Sam. He'd love to hear your feedback, so please leave a comment here on this post and I'll be sure to pass it on to him!

A Card for Jaime

I was really sad to read this story when catching up on my google reader-ing yesterday. Such a sad and tragic story. I instantly knew I wanted to create a card for Jaime, so I sat down right away and put this card together for her. It breaks my heart that our children are suffering such horrendous crime (and also that it's our children committing these crimes).

I'll be praying for Jaime and her dad and I hope that my card might brighten her day at least a little when she receives it.

If you can spare a few moments to create a card for Jaime, please do so. I've always found that knowing people are praying for me in the hard times of life does help. To know that, and to also know that they've even taken the time to create a handmade card just for me is so special. This blog hop and card drive is all about giving that special feeling to Jaime at a time that her life has been so dramatically and tragically changed. You can send your cards to the address at the right. 

Create A Card Friday - Handmade Christmas Card Tutorial

It's Create-A-Card Friday! Today's tutorial is for a cute, simple Handmade Christmas Card using the gorgeous stamp set, Tree Trimmings. Love this set!

Remember, there's only three more weeks left to order from the Spring Mini Catalogue, so if you want to own Tree Trimmings for yourself, be sure to get your order to me today! You can order by emailing me or phoning me on 0402 120 972. 

So, without further delay, here's today's video! Enjoy!

Before you go, please leave a comment and let me know what themes you would like to see in upcoming Create A Card Friday videos. Would you like to see more Christmas Cards or would you rather make a start on New Year projects like Valentine's and birthdays? Oh, and have a great weekend!

STOP PRESS! Two punch choices with Christmas Promotion!

Remember this post from the other day? Well, the news just got better. Stampin' Up! have announced that when doing your Christmas shopping with us between 1st November and 14th December, not only will you receive a punch FREE with every $85 you spend in our gift giving guide, but you'll now have a choice between two punches! You can now to choose to receive either the scallop square punch OR boho blossoms punch when you spend $85 or more on products in our gift giving guide. But wait, there's more! There's no limit to the number of punches you can receive for free! So, spend $170 on products in the Gift giving guide and you can receive one of each! How awesome is that?! Click Here to download a copy of the gift giving guide. Then, to place an order, email me or phone me on 0402 120 972 and I'll arrange to have your order sent to your home or postal address. Happy Shopping!

Christmas Mini Album Class By Mail

Last week's Mini Album class was fantastic! We had a great time and everyone went home with a completed (gorgeous!) mini album. I originally offered the class as a "Baby's First Year" Mini Album, but I had a couple of ladies ask if I could offer a different theme for them as they didn't want to do the baby theme. As this fabulous mini album is so easily adapted with any of our Simply Scrappin' Kits, I was happily able to oblige.

My friend, Diane, came along to the class and created her album using the "I Wish" Simply Scrappin' Kit. It turned out so well! As you can see in today's photos, Diane's album is just gorgeous! I like it so much that I plan to create one of these myself!

Now, I know there are some of you who would love to create your own "I Wish" Christmas Mini Album, so I'm offering this album as a Class By Mail. For just $35 (with FREE shipping!), you will receive full step-by-step colour instructions, along with all materials (excluding adhesives) to create a completed album with 14 pages for photos and/or journalling.

To order this class by mail, simply click the paypal link below to be taken through to my automated checkout OR email me with "I Wish Class By Mail Order" in the subject line. I will then reply to your email with instructions on how to make payment. Orders will be taken up til November 10th and kits will begin shipping on November 15th. 

Christmas Shopping with a gift for YOU!

Stampin' Up! have released their 2009 Christmas Gift-Giving Guide and surprise! there's a gift for you in it! For every $85 that you spend on products in the guide, you'll receive a FREE Scallop Square Punch! Click Here to download a copy of the gift giving guide. Then, to place an order, email me or phone me on 0402 120 972 and I'll arrange to have your order sent to your home or postal address. Happy Shopping!