Hey all, how's your week?

Just a reminder there are only THREE days left to order any retiring products from the 2011-2012 Stampin' Up! Ideas Book & Catalogue. If there's something on your wish list, don't leave it until the last minute!

Now, I promised you some sneak peeks from the new catalogues, so today I have for you a lovely product bundle from the Holiday Catalogue. This is SO much fun!

Now, I am not into Halloween at all, but when I saw the Googlie Eyes which I needed for a different card project about 8 weeks ago, in the Holiday Catalogue, and the cute Designer Kit and Stamp Set they were teamed with, I couldn't help imagining the fun, kids party favours and cards you could make!

The bundle includes 10 of these foodsafe Glassine bags, as well as pre-printed,diecut labels and the googlie eyes and you can buy it separately or in a discounted bundle with the matching Stamp Set.It's great value!

I love the cheerful colour combinations Stampin' Up! have put together for these labels, and how you can dress them up with some Scallop Circles or other shapes.

The colours go well with some of our new Designer Series Papers which you are going to see a lot more of in coming weeks!  For this birthday card, I have chosen the greeting stamp from the set Best Dad Ever, one of our continuing sets.

And if you don't want to use all the Glassine Bags, you can make different gift boxes, like this one using the Fancy Favour Die and the Big Shot.

I had so much fun making these - they were easy peasy and took no time at all!

You can see all of these projects in real life, plus a whole lot more, at my Catalogue Release Party on Saturday 22nd September at Wyreena Community Arts Centre in Croydon North.

If you'd like to come, please let me know, as places are limited. You can call me on 0418 361 931 or email [email protected]

I'll be back soon with some more Sneak Peek projects, and don't forget about the Retiring List . . . going, going, gone . . .

Good morning on this wintery Melbourne day! What better thing to do than stay inside out of the cold, with a hot drink in your hands and spend some time getting inspired and catching up with your stamping friends!

That's just what I plan to do! You may have arrived here at my blog after learning all about using bleach with your stamping, from my lovely friend Alisha Watson, or you may be just starting here. Either way, join me on this little tour through stamping land, just by following the link at the bottom of this message to the next person on the blog hop, and keep going until you hop right back here!  We love feedback and hearing what you think so please leave us a comment (blog love) too, if you have time - we love to get messages!

So, what technique did I choose today? I saw a technique at the Stampin' Up! Convention by lovely Sophie Zardeh, one of our SU! staffers. Sophie didn't give this technique a name, but now that I have recreated it, I am going to call it "Weathered Glaze" technique.

Start with your SU! Watercolour paper and stamp your chosen image in Black Stazon Ink. If it's an outline image, you may choose to do a bit of watercolouring now too.

Then using your SU! Simply Scored Tool, add some grid lines across the whole card. I did both directions, and on one card front I chose to also try them on the diagonal.

Next you're going to use your brayer to roll Versamark Clear Ink all over the whole piece of card, including the image. You will notice it doesn't go into the grooves you created with the Simply Scored.  Pour on your Clear Embossing Powder, make sure it covers the whole card, tip off the excess, then heat set.

The next step is to spritz the card front and back with water. Let it soak in a bit, scrunch the card, spritz it some more, really wriggle it about on the grooves you created previoulsy, to weaken the paper fibres. Scrunch it a bit more, tease up the edges and put it aside to dry.

Now, if it was me, just making samples for myself, I would stop right there and make some more, because that was SO much fun and I love how they look and feel!  But, my guess is, you want to see them on a finished project so you can see how to incorporate them into your art works! OKAY!!!!

So for the lovely bird image from Beautiful Blessings stamp set, I decided to create a really simple card. The card stock colours which match the watercolouring are Raspberry Ripple (yes! NEW!!) and Lucky Limeade.

For the clock image from Forever Young Stamp Set, I wanted to try a mini pizza box, but I have changed the dimensions somewhat so it's more like a book box. The colours I choose for this are one of my favourite combinations - Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black and River Rock!

I've added an antique brad to the side of the box which opens. It's only purpose is to indicate that's the side of the box to open - it doesn't actually hold the box closed - in the road construction industry we call that Way Finding Artwork - like the black bird or the hotel on EastLink! Or the Cheese Sticks at Flemington Road!

Very happy with how these projects turned out, and hope you are inspired to give this technique a go, as it really adds a special flavour to the projects!

If you'd like to continue on our little blog hop - there are only half a dozen ladies participating today - please leave a comment for me below, then hop off to see what the talented Ros Davidson has created for us today.

I will be back over the next few days with lots of sneak peaks of projects I have made using products from our TWO new catalogues that come out on September 1st! Hope to see you around!

Hi folks,

Just a quick hello with some updates of all the things coming up - hope you've got your diaries handy?

Tomorrow - Yarra Valley Papercrafters at the Chirnside Park Shopping Centre kiosk. Pop down and say hi to the ladies anytime from 9am-9pm

This Saturday - Stampin' Friends Techniques Blog Hop - this is a small blog hop, but it promises to be choc full of inspiring techniques - you can join in from my blog by coming back here anytime over the weekend.

Next Week - The very last week to order any retiring products from the 2011-2012 Stampin' Up! Catalogue.  Come Friday 31st, if you didn't order it, it's too late.

September 1st - New Annual Catalogue and NEW Holiday Catalogue go live! I have a workshop vacancy on Saturday 1st September so if you and your friends would like to be among the first to see it and play with the new, exciting products, be quick to let me know!

Saturday 8th Sept - Available for New Catalogue workshop. Let me know ASAP if you'd like me to bring new goodies to show you and your friends

Annual Stamp Camp at East Warburton. Fri 14th - Sun 16th Sept - Gorgeous cottage in historic English gardens, good food, and a whole weekend of stamping. Let me know if you'd like the details for this cheap, relaxing, fun weekend.

Catalogue Launch Party - Sat 22nd September at Wyreena Community Arts Centre. Two new catalogues, twice as much fun! Reserve the date now, invitations will be coming out over the weekend!

Friday 28th Sept - Yarra Valley Papercrafters back at Chirnside Park Kiosk

Christmas Card Extravaganza - Saturday 20th October at Wyreena.  Put this in your diaries now as you won't want to miss this!  Details coming soon!

Caulfield Craft & Sewing Show - Thursday 25th thru Sunday 28th October at Caulfield. We'll be running the Stampin' Up! stand again at the show, so write this one in your diaries and pop in to say Hi!!

That's a lot isn't it?  Really hope to see you some time in the next few weeks with ink on your fingers and inspiration in abundance!

Okay, the project that took me the MOST time to prepare, and that I felt like I was working on all night, was these two boxes!!

Why did it take so long?

Well, I started from scratch. I didn't have a template, or a sample to go by, AND I had to make duplicate sets - one for the main display area, and one for my demonstration area.  And with all brand new products I hadn't used before, there was lots of trying this, change that, substitute this etc. Ended up taking me a lot longer than I expected, but I LOVE the results!

How totally gorgeous are the matching lids! I SO can't wait until the new catalogue starts on 1st September so I can get my hands on more of that delicious Early Espresso and Very Vanilla Designer Series Snowflake paper from the pack "Candelight Christmas" . . . it's too lovely!

No special gift box is complete without the inside also being decorated, which I have kept really simple with the a couple of die cut outs. And what was inside the two boxes?

SNOWFLAKES!!!!!!!

Of course! These were a bit of fiddly fun! Quite quick to make, if you've got nice dextrous fingers! I really loved making all of my projects for the Heartfelt Stampin' Day - I was kind of in Stamper's Heaven for a couple of days (glad I had no unexpected visitors - you should have seen the state of the house!).

I'd love you to see these projects in real life, along with the gorgeous products I used to make them with. I have scheduled my New Catalogue Launch Party for Saturday 22nd September at Wyreena in Croydon. Would love to see you there - places are limited to 15, so please let me know if you are able to attend!

Email : [email protected]

or find me on Facebook

Good morning everyone,

Hope you've got something nice planned for the weekend! I have a stack of cards to make. There are so many events and classes coming up, not to mention birthdays and other occasions. I can see myself being out in my stamping room for several hours this weekend.

If you're a local customer and want to know what's happening, be sure to check the details on my CLASS & EVENTS page. There's a tab at the top you can click on!

Now, I have been promising since last Saturday 4th August to share the Pizza Box Instructions with you. This is a really great, simple project. If you're a demonstrator, try it at your next workshop. If you're a customer, ask your demonstrator to show it to you at your next workshop!

If you're into scoring with a ruler and bone folder, that's okay, it will work for you too, but I just wanted to point out, that I have compiled these instructions using Stampin' Up!'s new Simply Scored Tool with the Imperial measurements.

Download Pizza Box instructions

Also for the Heartfelt Stampin' Day - Melbourne, I made 2 cylindrical boxes. A bit more fiddly - they would be ideal for a very special gift, but wouldn't make a great class project unless you had all day!!

I have finally put together some photos of those two boxes, so I'll be back again with some more "Sneak Peak" projects in a day or two! Enjoy your weekend, and don't forget, if you'd like to see any of these projects in real life, I am available to come to your home for a free Stampin' Party, or you are welcome to register for the classes or events on my Class & Events Page.

Email me : [email protected]

or find my on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/#!/katlodesigns 

Hi folks,

Sorry I have been so busy at my "real" work, I haven't had time to do a lot of creating, or taking photos of those creations to share with you. It's such a busy life isn't it?

However, I did have the joy last week of having two of my nieces to stay and also attended a babyshower on Sunday, which is always a very lovely reason for celebrating, and getting creative!

My nieces and I did a special little project - you're going to love it!

How cute are these dear little things?  And very easy to make too!

Out of my (substantial) stash, we have used some retired Designer Series Paper, some off-cuts of Taffeta Ribbon and some Flower Brads.

There are lots of free templates available for these shoes, just by googling Paper Baby Shoes. Cut your printed paper to A4 to fit in your printer and print the template on the reverse side. So cute! I will definitely be making more of these!

I will be back on Saturday morning with the Heartfelt Stampin' Day Pizza Box instructions I promised you, and by way of reminder, have you checked the Going, Going, Gone Stampin' Up! Retired products list yet?  Plenty of accessories are already sold out. Check the list today, and make sure you email me if you don't want to miss out on any of these great bargains!

See you Saturday!

It was with great delight I accepted the invitation to spend 2.5 hours demonstrating a workshop wow project to my fellow demonstrators and guests at the fantastic Stampin' Up! Heartfelt Stampin' Day on August 4th.

I selected lots of lovely Snowflake products from the Holiday Catalogue (not available until 1st September) and created three lots of lovely projects, all colour co-ordinated in Early Espresso, Real Red and Silver Glimmer Paper - such a nice mix!

The first project I created was the scrapbook layout. This was something I wanted to do, as soon as I was invited, as I couldn't wait to make big lovely snowflakes to embellish it!

You'll notice some gorgeous new Designer Series Paper in the background, along with a co-ordinating stamp set, the silver snowflakes and some Cherry Cobbler Die Cut embellishments.

Next I created a cute mini pizza box with the same co-ordinating products, and stacking circle boxes with a surprise inside.  I will be back later in the week with instructions for the mini pizza box and more detailed photos of the three boxes!

Have a nice day.

The 2011-2012 Ideas Book & Catalogue is ending on 31st August.  There is a substantial list of retiring products, and excitedly, some of them are discounted!! Gotta love a good bargain!

Don't be disappointed and miss out though, in past years, some of the favourite discounted items have sold out well before the end of the month. Once they are sold out, that's it, ended, finished, gone . . .

If there is anything on your wishlist that is now on the Retiring Products List, please let me know as soon as you can so we can get it ordered for you and we can all live happily ever after!

Retired Stamp & Accessories lists

Email : [email protected]   Mob : 0418 361 931