Offering free stamps for a good cause ....

 

While pondering what to do with some of my Stampin' Up! goodies which are retiring tomorrow, I was reminded how lucky I have been to be on the receiving end of generosity from a company like Stampin' Up! over the past few years and how a very large proportion of my stamps were given to me as incentive prizes or gifts.

I decided I would like to continue that giving spirit and give away most of my retiring stock to a group or groups of stampers in the community who may be in need of some extra supplies. I would really like the supplies to go to groups that are disadvantaged in some way (whether that be financially, socially etc) and who meet to have some relaxiation and me time. It would make me happy to know my stamps were helping bring smiles to the faces of these people.

So, if you are in some way connected with or know of such a group, could you ask the group organiser or coordinator to drop me an email and make contact. I am not sure what sort of response I will get so can't promise, but please do make contact if you have a group truly in need of some supplies.

Thanks. Hope you have a happy day today,

Claire xx

Just some bits and pieces ....

It's been a while since I've posted what's been happening in my garden, so I took some photos today of my bulbs that are starting to spring into flower in pots on my patio.

 

 

and Josh's choice on our last trip to Bunnings, a couple of strawberry plants ....

 

Crafting time has been a little lean here the last few weeks. The start of August turned out to be a bit chaotic here with my husband having unplanned surgery on the first. He is fine now, but he has been home recovering for 3 + weeks, and then the kids both got sick so it  was a little crazy here for a few weeks. There were some fun times in there too though! I've been enjoying catching up with my nephew and sister who were each over from Perth on separate weekends. It's rare I get to have lunch with my family!

On the weekend I took the boys to their first Gold Coast game at the MCG. Josh decided at the start of the year he wanted to choose Gold Coast as his footy team (and my Collingwood obsessed hubby took it quite well really!), and I promised him we would take him  to a game. It turned out to be the weekend of a big school reunion / function at Paul's old school Assumption, so it was up to me to take the boys to the MCG!  We made it though and it was a glorious sunny day and actually very relaxing plus I loved watching them have such a fun day. It was a bonus that this was one of the few days spectators are allowed onto the hallowed turf of the MCG.

 

Hope you are all having a happy week with some fun family time too,

Claire xx

Springtime Florals ....

Only 9 days until spring here in Melbourne and we had some glorious weekend weather, and another gorgeous soon to be spring day today. I went for a walk around Lilydale Lake after school drop off and am so glad I did as I now I feel happy and full of energy. It was such a perfect morning for a walk.

This new Flirtacious specialty DSP from the Stampin' Up! 2011/2012 Idea Book and Catalogue also makes me think of spring. I love the pretty floral patterns and it has the most amazing intricate laser cut sheets (2 of them) included in the 12 sheets (I cut one of these doileys from that sheet). It's such a pretty paper. I made this card for a special friend who has had a rough few weeks health wise.

 

The other thing you will notice on this card is that I have used one of the new In-Colours for 2011/2012, called Wisteria Wonder. It's a lovely paler purple which works great as a lighter tone with Concord Crush and Elegant Eggplant. It's one of the matching colours with this DSP (and there's also a gorgeous matching stamp set!), and looks great with the pinks as well. Perfect or spring don't you think?

Hope you have a sunny day today too. Even if it's raining in your part of the world, I hope it's sunny in spirit!

Claire xx

33 Marathons and a game of golf .....

I hope you don't mind me interrupting my normal programming, to tell you about an awesome thing happening in 9 days. My father-in-law Bill, is on the support crew for this awesome event:

 

 

Andy Bowen and his team, will be playing the Nullabor Golf Links course on foot, which is distance of 1400km in 16 days, an average of 85km a day with no days off. The goal is to raise $50,000 for two very important charities:

Autism Spectrum Australia  and

Splash of Red (Sudden Infant and Child Death)

Having driven across the Nullarbor (the name means no trees) 6 times myself, I am quite in awe of what Andy and the team are embarking upon.

You can read all about the challenge and the team (view my father-in-law Bill Daly's profile on the team page), and click on a link to donate to these very worthy causes at the 33 Marathons Website . Even if you could just spare a couple of dollars your donation would be very appreciated!

You can track the incredible journey and keep up to date with their progress by liking their Facebook page, which will also help spread the word. That would be very appreciated!

Thanks,

Claire 

Brayered backgrounds with 2 new stamp sets ....

Hello :) Today I have some samples of a brayered background stamping technique using two new stamp sets from the new 2011/2012 Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalogue. This technique works best on glossy cardstock, and the colours I have used to brayer are Rich Razzleberry, Regal Rose and So Saffron. I have also sponged some Tangerine Tango around the moon as wispers of clouds (or at least that was the effect I was looking for!).

The first set is another image from the lovely Forever Young stamp set I used in the last post. How cute is this image?

 

The second set I have used is My Friend. I just love this silhouette foliage image from this set. (Apologies for the dodgy photo with glare. I knew if I waited until tomorrow I wouldn't get the blog post up, and the images have been sitting there stamped for a week already. As soon as I get a chance I will take a decent pic and reload).

Are you salivating at the thought of new stamps and ribbons and embellishments? Then grap a copy of the new catalogue. Even though you can't purchase the products until September 1, a girl needs time to plan right? The catalogues are available to order from me now and all the details are here.

Of course we have to say goodbye to to some old favourites first, and you can grab some great bargains on the retired list. Some of the products have already sold out though so get in quick! I've updated my retiring items page with all the details.

The top 3 sets I will personally find super hard to say goodbye to would have to be Friends 24/7, A Wish For Peace and Great Friend. These are gorgeous stamp sets. Here's some cards from the archives using these sets:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this brief trip down memory lane. If there's anything still on your wish list from the retired list, you know what to do :)

Have a happy week,

Claire xx