Where do you find your inspiration?

We all get inspired by different things and our creative pursuits are no different. 

I love to look around me and am often found thinking wow that would look great as / on a card or scrap page. I have even recreated contact (kids book coverings) as a digital scrap page background.

This month I have turned to our Annual Catalogue for my inspiration - what started as one card for a team challenge has blossomed and I am now on a roll. I am also looking at the catty in a whole new light. 

Let's look at page 116 and 117!

I just got the Starburst sayings wood bundle (I love the wood) and hubbies birthday was fast approaching so combined 2 things - the challenge and his birthday card. Male cards have always been a challenge as I so love making pretty cards but to say I am happy with this one is an understatement. 

Here is the artwork for the stamp set.

Here is the bundle I got.

And last but not least here is the card I came up with using the catalogue as inspiration.

Party Invites

I wanted to have a bit of fun with this one - a Mad Hatters Tea Party it's already going to be fun so the invite needed to be fun as well. 

This was made using MDS with a couple of clip art pictures thrown in. 

One of the hurdles I had to overcome was the square backgrounds of the clip art. You can see in the bottom corner a little nick out of the black frame I did fix it but left it here to show you in this one. To fix it I just used the brush function and had the picture at 800% so I could see the pixels and spot dabbed it with black. Note you must then 'group' the 2 otherwise the black spot will move. 

Flower Patch pretty

Playing today with my new Sampin Up Flower Patch set - love the bundle and save 15% option.

The framelits proved a bit of a challenge but when I worked out the placement I had one of those ahhh moments. 

The Framelit has a code etched on it - that's the top and the floweres are the correct way up in the pack so if you watch how you put the top of the flower when stamping then matching the frame is not to difficult. Once you work it out a dot of permanent marker is your friend for life.

So have a BLOOMING BE YOU {TIFUL} day

Check out Pinterest for more great ideas for this set - be warned it will climb higher to the top of your wish list once you do.

Just a quick share

The new Catalogue and all it's loveliness is LIVE.

I'm away for the weekend scrapping so I will do the kinky thing when I'm home on wifi.

Project life is a big focus for me this weekend it has solved one of my greatest dilemmas - scrapping multiple photos of the one event! 

I have 'kits' of stuff made up that are  years old and I wonder what I was thinking when I put them together but hay I hate waste so it has been interesting. I have incorporated my love for Stampin Up into these pages and challenged my thinking (a lot) 

Want to see some? 

It's important to note this child is about to celebrate her 10th birthday! I used the SU Georgeous Grunge stamp set, Amazing Birthday and our tag topper punch. 

We had about 20 kids not including siblings at this party so you can imagine the photos - that's where the SU  Project Life came into play. 

Everyone made a huge effort to come dressed up and Project Life has let me exhibit that. 

New Occasion Catalogue

2 weeks to go - 2 weeks left of the Big Shot bundle specials how exciting.

I have my hot little hands on the new Occasions Catalogue full of yummy Christmas sweetness. Pre order was a challenge - I didn't know where to start there is way to much to choose from. I was so excited then the box arrived I have touched it all and mounted my stamps onto the wood and that is all I have had time to do. 

The new Project Life kit is beautiful and I can see many a page coming out featuring those cards. I am headed away on a retreat at the end of the month and that's one of the goodies I am taking with me. 

Another thing I have done - well I got to play with the Brother Scan N Cut - it was here for 24hrs and part of that I had to work and sleep (dreadfully inconvenient). It took me a while to figure out what I was doing but found a great tutorial http://aandhcrafts.wordpress.com/category/brother-scan-n-cut/ that made it very easy. I had it playing on my iPad beside me and I did the project at the same time. 

The 'Family' is built into the machine and the Birthday Party I did as per the tute with the built in fonts. 

Happy crafting people - till next time - pop on over to my shop and don't forget to check out the weekly deals when you are there. 

Finishing up on Tuesday night are these great goodies at 25% off.

I love the little purse - it holds a small chocolate perfectly and looks great for any occasion but especially great on wedding tables as a cute package gift for the ladies. 

Project Life and Stampin Up.

There's been lots happening here with big seeing orders and huge kids assignments. I can say I have learnt heaps but it has taken time. 

Project Life has come to Stampin Up and yep I am more than a little excited about it. I love to traditional scrapbook and have even been having fun with digital scrapping on MDS but wow there is some serious satisfaction happening here. 

Page 1 -all great photos of my 3 little treasures but not ones I would scrap individually because, hay, well I just don't have all the time in the world to do it. 

Let me list the things I love about SU Project Life in particular - the PL kits match all our other great stuff like the colours (and yes this is a big deal trust me) the stamps compliment the occasions - did I mention the colours? The colours used in the PL kits are exactly the same as our colour families so mounting photos -which I love to do, is easy. 

Page 2 - I have backed them to keep them together as I am scrapping all over the place, no consecutive dates for me. I have been working on a 2 page spread though as wow I took so many photos at my daughters 5th birthday all those years ago it's now 5 pages long.

Page one a traditional page like I love to do - I used some of the PL cards to embellish and add colour to this otherwise pink (Strawberry Slush) page. We had a Barnyard bash all because Miss M wanted to wear her cow dress!

Page 1 - the others are not finished but will feature soon.

Want to know more about Project Life and Stampin Up? Sign up for my newsletter, click the 'like' button on my Facebook page or visit my Stampin Up Ensuite then hit the contact me button. 

Big Shot and Bundles

 

 

The Great Outdoors Male Birthday

Male birthday cards sometimes make us shudder - well they do me. I'll admit it not really a fan!

With 3 cards needed this week I had to face my fears and create away.

Out came a stamp set I hadn't used before - thought yep it's "blokey" enough for me but what to do with it? So as usual I hit Pinterest (if in doubt about a set purchase I do that first but hadn't this time). Well the inspiration was there but only so much of it and I was still stumped.

I stamped the images cut them out and played like a puzzle to see what would happen and get some ideas. 

Here are the results. 

The new Blendabilities worked a treat for this set and I think they turned out tops.

The "blue" is Night of Navy and the blender pen it worked but the result wasn't anywhere as nice as the Blendabilities.

To get the tent behind the chair - stamp the chair then using a post it note trimmed to the shape of the chair cover the part of it the tent is going behind. Remove the post it note and ta-dah the tent is at the back.

Sassy salutations is my go to set for greetings at the moment and I believe to be great value for money. 

You will need

The Great Outdoors stamp set

Sassy Salutations stamps

Blendabilities in the colours of your choice 

Momento in pad

Very vanilla card stock

Soft Suede card stock and ink for sponging the edge

MDS getting ready for Fathers Day

Decided I might give some Subway Art a got.

Gor some great ideas from Pinterest and Instergram then hit MDS for a play.

I've had this printed so now know where to tweak it - currently it's a 6x8 and it's so hard getting a frame for that! 

I've watermarked it but if you would like a copy for your private use please hit my Facebook page and send me a message. Don't have Facebook? Email me through the shop button to the right of your screen.

Hexagon Hive crazy Birthday

I have been papercrafting a fair bit because my sewing machine is in the shop. But forgetting to blog about the adventure - sorry - so let's catch up a little. 

New boxes of goodies with the new Catalogue release and the collection of my Sampin Start bonus stamp sets has me in paper craft heaven. Want to know more about Stampin Start or joining just pop me a note and I can send you some info.

Well one that I got was the bundle that included the Hexagon Hive Die and stamp set Honeycomb Hello. Great plans, design decided on after hrs on Pinterest (Courtenay Heuston if you want to find me and have a sticky at what I have pinned) then I tweaked what I found to suit me. 

I thank those wonderful peeps out there in Blog land, Pinterest, Instergram and the WWW in general for sharing your ideas. 

So with tools in hand this is what I did. 

You will need from Stampin Up - 

Hexagon Hive Thinlit

Both butterfly punches

Georgeous Grunge Stamp set

Hello honeycomb stamp set

A sponge 

Bling - I love our rhinestones and pearls

Card stock and ink in the colours of your choice.

I use Strawberry Slush, Early Expresso and Costal Cabana.

Happy Stampin 

Feel free to follow me on Instagram as well - just do a search for Bagsthatone 

MDSM73 MDS Monday challenge sketch

Its been a while so I though a visit to MDS Monday was in order and they had a sketch that appealed to me.
Its all about family - I noticed when picking my photo that its been a long time the 5 of us have had a group photo so I decided on this lovely one of myself, Mum and my eldest daughter.

This is the sketch I started with - I didn't realise how many great tree options we have on MDS. I learnt new things through the tutorial section - take note of my curved 'Family' pretty impressive!







Here is my layout.

Check it out on my Facebook page HERE

Want to know more about MDS sign up for my newsletter or send me a message via my Facebook Page.

Want to try it free? Pop into the store HERE and you will find the free trial there with the full software version under the My Digital Studio tab.

The new Catalogue is LIVE!

Well its here - the new Catalogue that is and to say I am excited is the understatement of the century. So many new goodies to love, so many new toys to play with and I am so happy to say this is an AWESOME catalogue… full of ideas, projects, and inspiration. You can click on the above picture to view it OR if you want your own in your hot little hands, here's what to do:

1. Come to a catalouge Launch this coming weekend! Saturday 5th July at 7.30pm. You'll not only get a catalogue of your own, but get to make 3 awesome projects with brand new products. Cost is $15. Click HERE to RSVP or pop over to the events tab on my Facebook page HERE and click the going button.

2. Book a workshop (or party) and get to see it AND play with the new products with your friends. You'll get your catalogue for free as a thank you, plus lots of free products too!

3. Contact me to have one sent to you or to collect one.  If you are collecting the catalogue price is $5. If you need it mailed out the cost is $10 including postage.

Have a lovely day. My suggestion?  Make yourself a cuppa, and settle in to look through whats new. The online Store is available today for anyone wanting to do their shopping online :-)

Want to see what I made with the new In-Colours and Blendabilities?

New Catalogue Launch - come and play with the new stuff!

So I finally have some dates for those that have been asking for them.  But I already know that you will need to be quick to book your spots as I have only space for a limited number.

There's only one date currently and this is a pre paid event.

Saturday evening the 5th July at 7.30pm at the Girl Guide Hall at Niagara park (next to Niagara Park Primary School, on Narara Vally Drive)

The cost to attend is $15, and you will make 3 projects using predominantly NEW STUFF from our gorgeous new catalogue. You will receive a free catalogue (or if you already have one, a $5 voucher to put against any order that you make at the event).  There will be prizes and refreshments of course.

For these events I do require pre-payment to hold your spot.  Contact me by clicking HERE to book or through my Facebook event HERE and let me know which date suits you better.

All my classes are held on the Central Coast NSW but workshops can be booked a little further afield.

 Looking forward to seeing those that can make it!  (If you can't make it, but want to see the new stuff, consider your own workshop. You only need a few friends around the table to make it viable, and everyone gets to make something beautiful! Lots of fun with friends AND productive as well :-) I'm currently taking bookings for July and August.