There was a song a million moons ago that my mum used to play all the time . . . Love is like a butterfly, soft and gentle as a sigh . . . and it's fitting that so many cards I make for people I love, have butterflies on them!

Love IS like a butterfly - it goes where it pleases, and pleases where it goes.

My gorgeous oldest niece has a birthday in July, and once again, the butterflies got an airing.  She has always been one of those girly girls, loves horses, and grew up on liberal doses of fairies, princesses and sparkling pink with lots of bling. 

Now she is nearly finished school, she is still mad about horses, but has outgrown the fairies and the pretty pinks. Her favourite colour is blue, and luckily I still had a stash of some of my favourite retired Stampin' Up! Designer Series Paper (Spring mini 2009??) which suited the card I wanted to make for her.

Yes, it's another tri-shutter card - loving these now that I have started making them - they are so much easier than they look!

There are a couple more larger pics in the second page of my gallery if you'd like a closer look.  Click here.

Our mini catalogues always have such lovely things . . . sighhhhh!

Our favourite one ever, is just about to end!  The Autumn Winter Mini Catalogue finishes this Sunday, so sad to see it go, I have loved every product!! If you haven't checked it out, you need to, fast!!

Here's the link to the mini on the Stampin' Up! Customer page, so you can have a look - make sure you don't miss out, I will be taking last minute orders early this weekend.  Mini Catalogue. 

Look forward to hearing from you soon!

Kathryn.

Last Saturday I had the privilege of sharing lots of Christmas card ideas and inspiration with 15 lovely ladies in the gorgeous Studio 1 at Wyreena. It was a lovely (exhausting) afternoon and I think we all have heaps of projects to keep us busy over the next week or two!

Here's a little peak at some of the things we did with the "Christmas Cheer" Simply Scrappin' Kit and a few assorted stamps from various stamp sets.

I now have to book myself some time to make dozens more of these over the next few months, so that when THAT time of the year comes around, I'll be all set for a giant visit to the Post Office!

How about you?  What are you doing to help yourself get lots of Christmas Cards made before December?

Welcome to another blog hop  - a source of inspiration which we hope will have you running for your ribbon stash! You may be starting here, or you may have been directed here by my lovely friend Alisha Watson who is the previous person in the blog hop. Either way, enjoy your journey!

This month you'll notice all the girls have been working with their gorgeous supplies of Stampin' Up! ribbon, & we're sure you'll love the results.

I love the Stampin' Up! demonstrator web-pages where I got my inspiration from this month - it's one of the fantastic things about being a member of the Stampin' Up! family - all those samples and ideas!

Here's a close-up of the ribbon . . .

. . . & you can see there's a scrap of lace & a small piece of linen thread as well - lots of extras on a very simple card.

To hold the ribbon in place, I have used "Sticky Strip" right along it's length. My paper piercer came in very handy for pushing the ribbon to where I wanted it to go.

If you love this ribbon and the lovely bright matching buttons - you only have about a week left to get your hands on them. Email me if you'd like to know how : [email protected]

If you'd like to continue on the blog hop, you need to visit the next person by clicking here.

Well, I have my Christmas in July class this afternoon - so looking forward to it - lots of fun projects! Have a great weekend and I hope to see you soon!

This coming Saturday 23rd July my little group of papercrafting friends is doing our regular monthly blog hop. This month our theme is ribbons!

Please be sure to join our little journey of cyber inspiration after 6am Saturday, by hopping from blog to blog to see what these talented ladies have created.

You can start by coming back here to my blog - either mark it in your calendar, or subscribe to my blog feed by clicking on the blog feed icon - - - - > over there in the right column!!

Hope to see you bright and early Saturday!

Kathryn

I am getting really excited about my Christmas in July class now, it's only 4 days away and it's going to be such a lovely afternoon!

My darling mother has offered to make her famous jelly cakes again, as well as reindeer shortbread bikkies AND a Christmas cake!!! And if we ever stop eating, I have some lovely cards for you to make!

I have had a couple of ladies realised they were double booked, so I can fit another 1 or 2 in for Saturday, so if you were hoping to attend, please get in touch as soon as possible!

Email : [email protected] or phone : 0418 361 931

A Tri-Shutter Card

I have wanted to try a tri-shutter card for a very long time - so long in fact, that I think I cut out the base for this one back in September last year to use as a sample for the designer series paper in what was then the NEW catalogue (!!) and never got around to choosing which DSP to attach to it.

The thing I love about these types of cards is the structure, and how amazing it all looks when it fact it was created from one single piece of flat card.

It looks amazingly complex and has a big impact, but it starts out quite simply, and with a few instructions, I think everyone should have a go at it!

Flat piece of card, couple of scores, some left over scraps of DSP and you've got your base to decorate as simply or extravagantly as you like.  I have seen some examples that are very extravagant - they are awesome and the ladies who created them are VERY talented!  I have also seen some more simple ones in bright kids colours which are just as effective - not to mention, lovingly appreciated by the recipient.

I decided to decorate mine with butterflies, using Butterfly Prints stamp set and some small flowers with half pearls in the centres.  All of these products are from Stampin' Up! including the butterfly and flower punch, the gorgeous Pinking Hearts border punch under the label, and the birthday greeting stamp.

I probably should mention too, my favourite designer series paper - "Elegant Soiree" which I have used to create the different panels on the card - love the colours and the soft swirling patterns in this DSP which I have used in several different styles of cards, including masculine ones.

Well, I hope you're having a good week, and I look forward to catching up with you again soon!

Kathryn

If you'd like a printable newsletter to stick on the fridge, with all the latest news, dates to keep and Stampin' Up! promotion details, see my latest newsletter, click here.

There may even be a little sneak peak in it from the brand new Ideas Book & Catalogue out on 1st September!

Now, if anyone's wondering what to do with the gorgeous buttons in the Icecream Parlour Gift with Purchase Pack, here's what I did with 3 of the Daffodil Delight buttons, and a few scraps of our yummy Designer Series Papers.

Doesn't that just make the icy, wet Melbourne weather just melt away into Springtime? (I wish!!).

Don't forget to contact me ASAP if you'd like to attend my Christmas in July event on Saturday 23rd. All the details are here.

Email me [email protected] or phone or text me on 0418 361 931

I've had a horrible nasty winter bug for over a week now, coughing, sneezing, using boxes & boxes of tissues . . . the antibiotics haven't kicked in yet, and Vicks Vapour Rub is having no effect - I can't even smell it!  So what do you do to cheer yourself up and get through the day?

I'll tell you what I do!!  I stamp!!

But you already knew that didn't you?  What have I been stamping the last couple of days though?  Well, I have been focussing on later this month (when I am well again!!) and preparing for my Christmas in July card making class.

This annual event is one of the favourites on my calendar - everyone is in such a bright mood despite the grey winter skies and the mud underfoot. And imagine creating a whole pile of cards in such delicious warming colours as Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive (hmmm, my favourites!), and sharing afternoon tea with a lovely group of fellow crafters.

This year, the class will again be held at Wyreena Community Arts Centre in Croydon - upstairs in the beautiful airy, Studio 1, on Saturday 23rd July. Start time will be 1.30pm running through to 5.00pm. I have some really special projects planned for this year, as well as lots of other samples for you to take photos of.

There will be 3.5 hours of stamping time, materials kits for all the projects, a door prize, goody bags for each attendee, lots of inspiration, a beautiful candle display by my friend Samantha from Partylite, not to mention Christmas Goodies to eat!  All this for the low price of just $35.00 per person.

Payment is required by Friday 15th July as I will be ordering a stack of supplies from Stampin' Up! for each attendee.  Please note :  This is not a beginners class - attendees will need to be experienced in heat embossing and are requested to bring their own paper trimmer, scissors and adhesive and be proficient in their use.

Several spots in this fun afternoon are already booked, so if you haven't reserved your place, please let me know as soon as possible. I will start phoning people for payment later this week. Your payment will be considered confirmation of your booking and will be non-refundable as it will be used to purchase your materials kit. If you aren't able to attend at the last minute, you can still receive your materials kit, or have a friend attend in your place.

Email me today : [email protected] or phone or text 0418 361 931

Welcome to another month of One Little Word. In June we were encouraged to get a bit messy and creative and produce 9 little cards, choosing a colour that maybe continued a theme from our album or a colour that was speaking to us, and to just pull out some supplies and make some mess.

I thought I was going to do a whole heap of copper stamping and painting, to tie in with the "I Scrap" class I did in March, but when I pulled out my "Grow" album and spread all the pages out, apart from a very subtle floral theme in browns and creams, every single layout had a tiny, but very obvious touch of beautiful red.

So my colours were set - Crumb Cake, River Rock, Soft Suede and Cherry Cobbler. I wanted to GROW the floral theme a little more, use some stamps I haven't yet used and include Shimmer Paint, as I have been using that a lot lately.  My stamping room is now an utter mess, but I don't think my cards came out messy at all . . . What do you think?

Oh, and of course if I was using a touch of red, there had to be a quirky little lady bird somewhere!

As you can see, I had a lot of fun with this!  If you'd like to see what some of the other One Little Word classmates have been up to through out June, please follow on in our blog hop. You can go to Cindy, the next person by clicking here or you can follow the list below. Each blog should link you to the next persons, and eventually you'll get back to where you started! Please leave some blog love by commenting on each lady's work if you're able to, and have a great weekend!

List :

Margie                   http://xnomads.typepad.com/blog

Rebekah                 http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com/

Kelly                       http://kellyxenos.typepad.com/

Julie Ann                http://www.julieannshahin2.blogspot.com

Jill                         http://www.jillconyers.typepad.com/

Jamie                    http://www.jmpgirl.blogspot.com

Cherie                   http://www.cheriandrews.blogspot.com

Nikki                     http://www.inkyart.com.au

Amanda                 http://www.scrappnbee.blogspot.com

Melissa S               http://www.blog.mshanhun.com

Monica B               http://www.questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com/

Lisa A                   http://www.backtoallen.com/writers_blog/

Sam                      http://www.learncreatedo.wordpress.com/

Karen                    http://www.womenontractors.blogspot.com

Lynn                      http://www.crafty-creativity.blogspot.com

Jenn                      http://www.studiojenn.blogspot.com

Kathryn                  http://www.katlodesigns.com

Cindy                     http://seriousplay.typepad.com