Vanessa Webb – Independent Stampin’Up! Demonstrator

I’ve been catching up on a bit of scrapbooking recently. I love the size of Stampin’ Up!’s 6×6 albums, it’s so quick and easy to scrap a page that size.

The page above uses the 5th Avenue Floral stampset and gorgeous Bella Rose Double sided papers.

I like to maximise the space on my pages so I got out my Stampin’ Up! Cutter Kit and cut around the flowers so I could  slip the photo in behind. The rotary cutter in the kit is much easier and safer to use than a craft knife and you get 4 portable tools in one for just $33.95!

Other products used:

Ink : Choclate Chip and Pink Pirouette Classic Inkpads
Paper/Cardstock :  Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Confetti White cardstock

Accessories : Build A Brad, 1/2 inch Circle Punch, Photo Corner Punch, Ridinghood Red Taffeta Ribbon, Crafter’s Toolkit (Paper Piercer)

Now to day 2 of our Noosa Trip……….

Here’s Jayne, Georgina, myself, Linda and Marelle starting the day with breakfast at a restaraunt in the main street……..we found out later that it is owned and run by the same people who own Ricky’s.  This would become our favourite place to eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert…….

After a sumptuous brekkie we borded the ferry to Ricky’s Restaraunt for our cooking class…….

The day was perfect for a boat trip so some of us sat up top to enjoy the view……..

Arriving at Ricky’s………..

Each of us received a set of cutlery labelled with a Stampin’ Up! ribbon colour which indicated our cooking teams……..

This person did not wish to be identified but he did look rather cute in that chef’s hat …..

Here we all are in our Master Chef attire, the BAJA BREEZE team…….waiting to “cook up a storm”!

As Linda said “It is possible to cook and look cute at the same time……… ”

So we got our hands dirty …….or our latex gloves at least…..

And turned the ingredients before us into a gourmet meal……….

to die for!!

We ate, savouring every morsel, all the while enjoying the fabulous surroundings and atmosphere at Ricky’s.

Now, if you’re starting to think  that we spent the majority of our time on the Incentive Trip eating amazing food…….. you’d be right!

After Linda and I had spent the afternoon child-free shopping (when do you get to do that!!??) on the main strip in Noosa ……..it was time for a cocktail – I think happy hour started at 3pm in this bar – some oysters that tasted like they had been lifted straight from the sea and salt and pepper squid…..

We returned to our rooms that afternoon to find yet another gift waiting for us, wrapped up in a tea towl, inside another, larger, red hatbox. I’m not allowed to show you what was inside…..but I can say that you are going to LOVE some of the new stampsets and accessories Stampin’ Up! are introducing before the end of the year!

The night was ours to do what we wanted, so  group of us decided to meet at the local Club for a meal and some Karaoke!

This “unofficial” activity is set to become an Incentive Trip tradition …….and, lets face it , deep down, we ALL want to sing like ABBA…………. right?

Back with more from Incentive Trip – Day 3 tomorrow!!

I made up these tags a while ago and realised that I’d forgotten to share them on my blog! They are made with the Rustic Rooster stampset (a hostess set that you can earn for free at your workshop).

I have used some of the new Very Vanilla Jumbo Brads from the Spring Mini catalogue to secure the Ridinghood Red ribbon in the corner of each tag before fraying the ribbon with my Paper Piercing tool to give it the look of feathers.

This set is part of Shelli Gardner’s signature collection and reflects her love of the vintage,  shabby-chic style.

I am finally getting my photos from Incentive Trip organised and I will have more to share with you over the next few days. In the mean time here is Day 1 of our fabulous holiday……enjoy!

These were my Incentive Trip swaps which I am very pleased to say I wasn’t finishing the night before like last time! I’ve used the Sip By Sip stampset and added some Chocolate Fine Supernova glitter for a bit of extra dazzle

We wanted to include the kids in the excitement too, so we decided to hire a limo to drop them to school and then to take us on up to the airport to catch our flight…….

Lol…..you’d think they travelled like this every day!!

Of course, the Champagne came out after the school drop of to get us in the holiday mood and we road in style up to the airport!

Upon our arrival at the Sheraton we received a cocktail in a real coconut, which was very refreshing, then we had a chance to head up to our rooms for a quick rest before our welcome dinner……..

Here’s some pics of our room….

And the view from our balcony…………..

The pool had a swim up bar and you could even order food while you were swimming!

And look what was on the table in our room (Janiel and Angie our event coordinators from from Stampin’ Up! had really thought of eveything!):

You can see what was etched on the water glasses a better more clearly here:

After a little time in the Jacuzzi and a lounge by the pool we headed down to the ballroom for a lovely dinner together (the desserts were a particular hilight!) and then headed to the bar for some cocktails to end a  perfect day.

When we returned to our rooms we found another gift ……..

We were told to wear this at our group activity the next day along with the matching hat…..

With this was a gorgeous card with a hand written message from Shelli which I will treasure forever:

We went to bed that night very well fed, beautifully relaxed and looking forward very much to the next day’s activities………..more about Day 2 tomorrow!!

Just a quick post to let you know that,while tonigt’s class is full, I have 1 or 2 spots still available for the Christmas Stamp-A-Stack next Thursday 27th August 7.30pm at my place.

If you’d like to come along you’ll need to email me before  Monday 24th.

We’ll be making 10 cards……5 each of these designs (just scroll down one post).

I’ll be posting pictures next month’s card designs at the end of August as well as news and photos from my trip to Noosa……so be sure to check back here again soon!

Look what I got in the mail!! Next week I’m off to Noosa with my hubby for 5 days, all expenses paid courtesy of Stampin’ Up! I already think that I have the best job in the world…….but having the opportunity to earn a free trip away every year just for doing something I love is the icing on the cake .

I’m looking forward to soaking up some sun, lazing by the pool with a book, slipping in a few cocktails and maybe a facial and a massage at the Sheraton Resort and Spa……..it will be awesome to catch up with the other demonstrators on the trip as well a Shelli Gardner and the others from Stampin’ Up! Watch this space for a full report of our time in Noosa when I return!
This may be my last post before I leave so I wanted to share a few things before I go (and I will come back again…..I promise!!)

Those of you who made it to one of my catalogue launch nights this time around will know how gorgeous all the new Spring Mini catalogue products are!!! We had the chance to make three projects and we had a heap of fun stamping and creating together. If you missed out on coming this time around, make sure you book in early for my next launch in a few months time!

Here are some of the giveaways and prizes attendees got to take away with them at my launch nights:

If you look closely you’ll see some shots of the gorgeous new Candy Cane Striped grosgrain ribbon (I’ve gone through an ENTIRE roll of this already *blush*)……..and some of the new Corduroy Buttons and Brads which come in three different co-ordinating colours…..very yummy!

The low calorie cake was made from a template I found HERE and the paper flowers are made with the Scallop Circle Punch and sculpted using the instructions found on Joanne’s fabulous blog……..dedicated to paper flower sculpting. The “cake slices” would make  great wedding or baby shower favours or a birthday present with lots of little goodies in side each box…..much better for your waistline than regular cake too lol!

Here’s a close up of the sculpted flowers, you can find the instructions for making them in the link above:

Guests created a card, a little bag made from the new Walk in the Park papers and a Mini scrapbook page using the beautiful “Sense of Time” stampset and Parisian Breeze Specialty Paper:

The products and accessories in the Spring Mini catalogue will be available for purchase through me for a limited through 30th November 2009. If you haven’t yet got your own copy and would like one, please email me at stampin@vanessawebb.net and I’ll send one out to you (Australian residents only).

Would you like to earn some extra cash? Do you love creating and sharing ideas and inspiration with others? Can you picture yourself and getting paid to play with beautiful new products and accessories? Like to have your stamping or scrapbooking hobby pay for itself and learn more about stamping and scrapbooking at the same time?

If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions and you’d like to know more about the benefits of being a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator, the please give me a call on 4271 8121 and invite yourself over for a cuppa and a chat (or we can chat on the phone) I’d love to introduce you to my awesome Inky Fingers team, help you see how Stampin’ Up! can fit into your life to help you achieve your goals whatever they may be.

If you got this far through my marathon post then you’ve done very well! I look forward to posting again when I return from Incentive Trip……I know I will have lots to share with you

This was the first set I had on my Mini Catalogue wishlist. I have always loves vintage style stamps….especially clock faces…..and this set was one that I had to have in my collection!
The card above is a CASE of a card created by Ilina Crouse. I really love the idea of stamping the wheels and cogs in Chocolate Chip (stamped off once) on Very Vanilla before stamping the clock over the top  in full-strength Chocolate Chip. There are so many techniques I want to try with this set!

This one is my, slightly more feminine take on this set. I wanted to use some more “out there” colours and this black and pink combo just came to me as I was playing one day.

This time I stamped the clock face on some Raspberry Tart  Designer Series Paper (this technique is called Paper Piecing) and dressed it all up a bit with some Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware.

I stamped the cogs in the background and then stamped the Baroque Background in Versa Mark over the top before embossing the swirls in Black.

What do you think of my card? Leave a comment and let me know what you think of my feminine Sense of Time card before this Friday  7th August and I’ll send you a sample of a card using this new set!

Here’s a list of the products I used to create the cards above, all available through me from Stampin’ Up! -

Stamps : Sense of Time (from the new Spring Mini Catalogue p16), En Francais Background, Baroque Background.
Ink :  Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Regal Rose Classic Inkpads, Versa Mark, Black Stazon Ink pad

Cardstock/Paper : Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Very Vanilla, Regal Rose, Basic Black, Raspberry Tart DSP

Accessories : Vintage Brads, Crafter’s Toolkit, 1 and 3/8 Square Punch, Curly Label Punch, Cutter Kit, Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware, Silver 5/16″ Jumbo Brad (from the New Spring Mini, p10), Heat Tool, Embossing Buddy, Powder Pals, Black Embossing Powder, Sponge Dauber.

HINT : If you don’t have a circle cutter, use one of Stampin’ Up!s Ribbon Spools to trace the outline of a circle and cut around. Using the 7 Sided Distressing Tool in the Cutter Kit distress the edges of the circle.