Count down to the first team event!

Only 1 day to go until Saturday & our first team extravaganza for 2009 & I'm already aching from painting or should that be pushing a roller above your head.

Clare & myself have been in charge of xxxx (if I tell you I'll have to kill you as it's a trade secret but all will be revealed in 1 days time!). Here's a snapshot of my 52 kits all packed up in a box to go.

I was surfing (as you do) on SCS & found a really cute coaster fridge calendar so thought woo hoo this will be my door prize - one of the very few things I had left to do.

So here's my take on it:

Stamp set: Classic Numbers (retired)
Ink: Taken with Teal
Paper: Bali Breeze DSP, Taken with Teal. Old Olive, Whisper White
Other: Bold brights brads, crop-a-dile, scallop circle punch, 1-3/8" & 1-1/4" circle punches, old olive grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals, Tombow glue, red sticky strip, coasters, magnetic strip

I hope the lucky recipient finds it as pretty as I do.

I've been a bad BLOGGER lately :-(

I've been busy painting my house whilst I've had the services of Pete (apart from a deck this is my first attempt & maybe my last!!)

Jacque has posted her 60 cards she made with her Simply Scrappin' kit plus some pictures of Madeline's efforts using my kit which are rather cool so pop on over & say hi LINK HERE It looks amazing seeing all the cards (I must talk less in future).

I've also had some lovely awards passed onto me the first one is the HUG AWARD from Anne Marie : it is a great way to give someone a hug that you've never met but who means something special to you, now pass it on to 10 others....

10 is a lot of people but off the top of my head
Tracy Jackson one of those people that hopefully one day I will meet ?at SENZ this year

Trudi & Louise who run NZSU blog and deserve lots of hugs

My SBS sisters Janet, Sharon, Vanya, Viv, Joan & Anne who always leave the nicest comments
so a big hug to you all from me

and of course Sam AKA Ryemilan from Aussie who's work I love and I will meet at the SU! convention in Canberra this year as we're both attending

The next one's a toughie as a lot of the people above deserve it too and was awarded to me by Janet:
This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

I hope everyone will be inspired by my friends:

Keryn Campbell a kiwi blogger & DCM who blogs heaps & leaves lovely comments - thank you

Laura Fredericksen - this is one of the most talented card makers out there & she makes time to leave comments on my wee blog (I'm so honoured)

Amy Fleming another really talented stamper from NZ with a heart of gold

Louisa Ting Chong a new blogger but having fun & hopefully making some friendships

Maria Matter a recent visitor to my blog but appears to have a heart of gold & an apropriately named blog ...Joyful Stamper

Anne-Marie Cox we started blogging about the same time & have certainly learnt a lot together along the way

My dear friend Judy who is always so positive even with all her tribulations

SharonD from my SU team who is always so positive even when life is dealing you "lemons"

The challenge to create 60 cards in one evening!

My incredibly talented upline Jacque challenged us to take one Simply Scrappin' kit & create 60 cards in one evening. We had the use of all her stamps, ribbons, inks & punches. The original concept created 60 cards but they were only 3x3" - we were all given a few extra sheets of 12x12" card stock & made 4x4" cards. I didn't want to use all my kit & thought if I used half making cards I'd still half to scrapbook with so 30 cards was my target, well I know I talk too much but I only created 8 (but did help Madeline Jacque's oldest daughter create 3) so I'm going to say my tally was 11, if you created 2 to 3 of each I would have easily made my 30 but really happy with what I did which follows:

PS I used Winter Bright as my kit
UPDATE: I've had a few queries as to how many were created & I replied in comments but not being seen there, so the most productive person (maybe the most quietiest) created 19 cards which is mammoth to me & so mass card making here we come!

A sweet thank you

2 challenges in one here not that I'm very happy with my effort but have 4 hours to pack up for a 5 hour scrap (plus pizzas) & I haven't got the foggiest where any of my gear is (this is normal though).

Trudi from NZSU blog has challenged us to make something with a Sale-A-Bration set (SAB) & Janet from my SBS sisterhood has challenged us to make a card with no DSP or embossing & to use our stamps to make background paper - this is easy.

I've chosen Botanical Blooms as I love 2-step stamping & I needed to make a wee thank you card. There are 4 SAB sets again this year to earn for FREE - more details about this promotion can be seen HERE.

Stamp sets: Botanical Blooms, Short and Sweet
Paper: Apricot Appeal, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Whisper White
Ink: Apricot Appeal, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive
Other: Earth Elements markers, scallop edge punch, mat pack

Another strange colour combo??

Well must admit when I saw the latest Kristina Werner colour challenge I said YES - Ruby Red is one of my favourite colours but I found it really hard using the colours without a green or a blue so this was a hard challenge for me - saying that I'm really happy with how my final card turned out.

This was the colour inspiration colours this week:


And my take on the challenge:


Stamp set: One Of A Kind
Paper: Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Ruby Red, Pumpkin Pie
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Ruby Red, Pumpkin Pie
Other: Boho flowers punch, 1-3/8" square punch, Tangerine grosgrain ribbon, mini glue dots, dimensionals

Thanks for poppin' in!

SBS challenge 11 - strange colour combo

The first challenge for this year was to choose 3 strange colours & make a birthday card with them, Janet - the challenge setter choose Ballet Blue, Perfect Plum & Creamy Caramel - strange all right but her card which can be seen HERE really works.

Vanya chose orange, red & pink which she said was strange for her - maybe she should enter Kristina Werner's most recent colour inspiration with her card which can be seen HERE

I think the rest of my SBS sisters are still on holiday time as haven't seen anyone else's creation as yet.


My colour combo was chosen by the huge flower in the middle of one of the Bali Breeze DSP which makes me grimace, so my colours are Rose Red, Taken With Teal & Pumpkin Pie & I've made a spinner card - it does spin but it's so big it doesn't build up much speed before it runs out of "track" - the button is just one from my drawers - enjoy & thanks Janet for another fun challenge.

Am I blessed or what!!!

Firstly a HUGE thank you to Tracy Jackson from Hawera AKA Stamping All Seasons for awarding me some blog candy (look at it all) and a stunning card made with my favourite set in the Summer Mini - it was all wrapped up in a beautiful bag and to Rachael Knight AKA Knightstamper for making me an owl card with a non-SU! stamp - now that must have been hard. I love owls - not sure why they're just so cute. Both of them have included some stamped images for me to play with which will be fun.


Plus I'm doubly or should that be now quadruply blessed as both Anne Marie AKA Stamping Galore & Stephanie AKA Stipple Shapes have awarded me the Marie Antoinette blogging award - I hope this means I don't have to chop of my head!!


The usual rules link those that awarded it, post the award & list 7 other nominees deserving of the award. I must admit I'm extremely honoured as this is my 2nd award in one week & to be nominated by 2 for it has made my day.

1. My first nominee will be Denise Ibbett in my team, who's work has always inspired me & I've shared a little bit of it here when we've done team swaps - she's just started up a blog Let Get's Stamping & it looks sensational & you definitely want to bookmark it for the future!
2. No. 2 is also a new blogger & I've just loved seeing her work lately Diane from Diing to stamp - fantastic stuff & a teddy bear on her banner - maybe even better than an owl (one day I may post some of my Teddy Bear miniatures I have collected).
3. Amy from Me and Mi Stamps - one word for her blog sensational!
4. Miss Boo - I love her name & her blog & her work
5. Tracey Old -there might be something about the name Tracey AKA A Stampers Touch
6. Nancy Riley who shares so much from I Stamp
and last but not least no. 7. Marelle Taylor a sensational stamper from across the ditch AKA thINK spot

My crafting Saturday

I had a really neat Saturday - it was the first Creative Inkers Team demo training for 2009 but great to catch up with some old friends & their news plus meet a few new faces. the theme was "goal-setting" yes New Year new goals. From a stamping point of view personally for myself I'd like to do more challenges & extend my stamping skills plus meet some neat ladies along the way. Whatever your goals are for 2009 I wish you much luck (& determination) to achieve them. I'm hoping to enroll in a digital scrap booking class at my local high school so hope that's fun too. If nothing else maybe I can make a banner for my blog.

Heather Stewart showed us how to make a Peek-A-Boo treat holder - tutorial on SCS HERE but she showed us how to get 3 out of one sheet of A4 - how cool is that! We used the Friendly Flowers stamp set which can be found in the Summer Mini. Colours used: Always Artichoke and Elegant Eggplant. This is a cool wee project for Valentine's or Easter.

Dare I say it but the next bestest thing about demo training after catching up with everyone is the swaps - having a card in your hand is so much better than seeing it online - the colours never do it justice. So team swaps follow, I was hoping those in the team that had blogs would have blogged about there's by now but not one of them has as yet & the weather was perfect for blogging or crafting today (we finally have rain - BLISS) ; so I'll out them all. The swap had to be made with a stamp set from the SAB catlogue or our Summer Mini.

First off the blocks is Tee-Jay Horrell from Wanganui & she's been very brave & posted it already in cyberland on the NZSU blog - I think this was Tee-Jay's first swap & hopefully not her last as I loved it. She's used one of the new free Sale-A-Bration sets called Yummy.

Debbie Lamb using Time for You - it's such a great sentiment & she's used my favourite colour GREEN:
Next is my incredibly talented upline Jacquelyn Pedersen AKA Stamp Happy blog. We're very lucky that her cards aren't allowed to be voted on for the WOW card or most demonstratable or none of us would ever win (not that I ever have sniff). She's used A Happy Heart - I just can't wait to start playing with this stamp set as it has 6 equally gorgeous stamps.
Rachael Knight's AKA Impressions of a Late Knight Inker blog exquisite wee covered notebook also using Yummy:
Hannah Ryan AKA Happy Stamping blog (but her blog is under construction methinks), she's used one of my favourite stamp sets from the Summer mini Ocean's Commotion:
Denise Ibbett's stunning Afternoon Tea DSP & Live Your Dream card:

Heather Stewart - also teacher of peek-a-boo treats. Dare I say it great minds think alike she's also punched out the congratulations from Say it with Scallops stamp set with a circle punch, rather than it's matching scallop square punch plus she's also used a few other stamp sets, All Scallops & In The Stars:
Anne-Marie Cox AKA Stamping Galore blog :
- she's used Live Your Dreams too.

Last but certainly not least Sue Morton's absolutely beautiful bookmark using Live Your Dreams plus Bali Breeze DSP:
I've just used my scanner so sure the real blog posts will be better for those that have a blog but sure you'll see why I say receiving swaps is so worthwhile!! If you'd like to know more about being a demonstrator I'd be happy to have a chat with you. This is a great time to join as as well as the incredibly reduced starter kit you can choose any stamp set from the catalogue (up to $93.95) for FREE.

I originally signed up as I loved the product so much & wanted it all - so thought having a wee discount would help. I must say even though I work full-time things have certainly grown for me in the past year (helped by such a great product - making it easy for me) so I am now achieving so much more than that. You can contact me by e-mail krog@ihug.co.nz or just click HERE.

The weedpile

See it does exist & has grown (thanks for all your comments about it) - there's still a bit more I could add to it too unfortunately but I've been saved by the rain.

Be back later with an update from my team demo training yesterday.

2 lovely surprises in one day - lucky me

I've won some blog candy (though not sure if I deserve it) from Tracy Jackson AKA Stamping All Seasons blog & an award from my lovely SBS 25 sister Vanya AKA My Crafty Place blog- I'm really lucky to belong to such a talented group of ladies as they're all so inspirational.

The best bit about receiving an award is passing it on!!

So I nominate (just from down under):

Tracy - Stamping All Seasons
Trudi - Made By Me
Sam - Ryemilan's Stamping and Scrapbooking
Diane - Colour Me Happy
Makeesha - Inkspirations
Andrea - Andrea's stamping moments
Diane - For the Love of Paper

So ladies & Vanya thanks for all the inspiration & go forth & spread "the love"

PS I think I deserve an award for patience - I've had some free time today & have caught up on all my blog reading - leaving comments at most on dial up speed - GROAN talk about painful but only 4 days to go to get back my broadband allowance back.
Ciao for now.

KWerner Colour Challenge 37

Well one of my New Year resolutions is to enter more challenges - so imagine my surprise to see that Kristina is running late with her latest challenge & I can still enter it.

This week's colour challenge was: Old Olive, Baja Breeze (which we don't have down under yet but I thought Bali Breeze DSP which is Taken With Teal sounded close enough if you say it fast enough), Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie & Whisper White.


Stamp set: Embrace Life
Card Stock: Taken With Teal, Old Olive, Whisper White, Bali Breeze DSP
Ink: Basic Brown, Old Olive
Other: Word window punch, blue rhinestone brad, sponge dauber, mat pack, paper piercer, dimensionals, 2-way glue pen, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, SNAIL adhesive.

And a close up of that brad isn't it just gorgeous!!

Summer Mini Swap

Hi all I've had a busy week - theoretically on holiday but have been gardening, water blasting, sanding & on 2 days been a volunteer down at the ladies tennis tournament at Stanley St (this year we've had the world no 4 Elena Dementieva as our no. 1 seed & she's through to the final) so a full on week!! Update: She won the tournament.

Here's one of my piles of weeds so we can get at the house to start painting it:


I've had Pete's 18 year old son helping me which has been great (& Pete when he finished work) so we've achieved heaps but Keegan has used up all my broadband allowance - so no blog surfing for me :-(

I'll be back in a week & visiting & commenting again but just thought I'd like to share my demo swap for my team training tomorrow. We had to use something from the newly released Summer Mini catalogue for our swap - I've had to make it a quickie card as no time/playing for me plus my arms are aching! So the use of punches was called for......

I absolutely loved this card by Sherri Barron AKA Fun To Stamp blog - we don't have what I'm assuming will be the new in-colours in April '09 but love her colour combo of Tangerine Tango, Pacific Point & Kiwi Kiss (yes our humble kiwifruit has had a colour named after it). I emulated her card's colours with Pumpkin Pie, Taken with Teal and Old Olive but preferred the Wild Wasabi card with the Real Red scallop & Pumpkin Pie star so that became "my swap" - I also scallop-edged the bottom of the card as I so love my border punch!! It's the best thing since sliced bread.

I also discovered that if you cut your A4 card stock in half which gives you a 4-1/8" piece of card stock to fold in half & play with that it's a fraction big to make an even scallop edge so I changed the vertical cut to 3-7/8" which was perfect.


Stamp set/s: Say it with Scallops, Polka Dot (background)
Card stock: Wild Wasabi, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Basic Black
Other: Silver brad, 1-3/8" circle punch, scallop circle punch, scallop edge punch, small star punch, 1/16" handheld circle punch, linen thread, Wild Wasabi grosgrain ribbon