Spent the Night with Paula & the Galz

Have been re-inspired. . .just spent a few hours with Paula, Tania and Bronwyn swapping ideas, chatting and playing with the new Autumn colours and the Big Shot! Woo Hoo. . .was heaps of fun and have a nice, simple (laugh) card to show for my time. Paula makes the lovliest cards and always uses great colour combinations. I really enjoy just watching someone else create; it gets my juices flowing and I should probably start writing my ideas down (when I get them) as when I come to expand upon simple concepts I sometimes hit a brick wall. . .

The added bonus from talking to Paula tonight was that she taught me a few more tricks for blogging including adding pages to my blog and being able to insert watermark writing on the photos I intend to upload in the next few days. . . Thanks so much Paula (for your patience and your expertise) you are now my 'go to girl for blogging'. Check out my "pages" and keep an eye out for my beautifully watermarked photographs in the next few days. ;-)

Anyway a few writing deadlines to meet so not really time to wax lyrical on the blog.

Hip love
Shanni

Experimenting with the Uploading of Photographs!

I have set a challenge for myself this week - I am going to upload a heap of images of my card creations and other things that I have been making for the past few months. One of my friends Jill is most despondent about my lack of entries and I am going to take up the challenge to be more pro-active with respect to the blog site. My dilemma at the moment is placing a watermark on the fronts of the images recognising copyright in the images. . .so watch this space because I promise that there will be something to see sooner rather than later! Sx

Arty Inkers Stampin' Up! Booth at NQ Baby & Children's Expo March 2010

Ruth and I exhibited at the recent NQ Baby & Children's Expo at the Cairns Convention Centre. It was a brilliant two days; we met so many new people interested in paper craft and were able to show off some of the great products that Stampin' Up! have to offer. I did a heap of scrap booking canvasses using the Pink Flamingo DSP and complimentary colours as the backdrop for the display and Ruth and I made cards in a variety of baby and children's themes. It was fun preparing for the booth and great to hear and see people's reactions to our display. Looking forward to our next booth at the Tully Craft Show in July. The winners of the baskets of Stampin' Up! goodies were Fay from Gordonvale (Saturday) and Jodie from Redlynch Valley (Sunday)- congratulations ladies and we trust you will enjoy the wonderful products!

I have been off line for about two weeks and cannot believe how out of control it made me feel! I am obviously addicted to email and the internet and never thought that I would be. My days were not as productive as I had a lot more time on my hands but was conscious all the time of what I hadn't gotten done, things that needed to be updated and people that I needed to contact but didn't have a telephone number for or that I knew would be too busy to disturb - that is one of the beauties of email - you can send it when it is convenient for you (ie 2.30am in the morning) and the recipient can read it when it is convenient for them!

So the BIG REMINDER for today is the fact that our Spring Mini Catalogue finishes on 30 November and we may never see some of the products again. The Designer Series Papers ("dsp") were beautiful and appealed on so many different levels. I will especially miss Ski Slopes and Parisian Breeze dsp. Accessories which have proven popular amongst my friends and customers have been the Baja Breeze Corduroy Buttons (they are also available in Kiwi Kiss and Basic Gray), the Jumbo Brads - especially in Chocolate Chip and the Striped Grosgrain Ribbon in Riding Hood Red candy cane stripe. But the item which I think everyone will miss the most is the Scallop Oval Punch which has been a versatile and invaluable addition to the punch range.

Have no fear though just as you all mourn the passing of this fabulous catalogue, Stampin' Up! will release its Summer Mini Catalogue on 1 December and it is overflowing with beautiful stamp sets, accessories, embellishments, tools and dsp to satisfy everyone's creative desires. . .if you would like a copy and can't wait to visit the official Stampin' Up customer website to view a copy let me know and I will send one by post.

Watch this space for a full report on Cairns Regional Training including (drum roll please) photos!

Coming Up to Speed With Blogs

As my first post on my new blog, I have to admit that I am a bit anxious. Obviously I want to get the perception thing right from the beginning. Thanks so much to my up-line Ruth for her invaluable support and assistance in making this happen. I am beginning to think that I am computer illiterate and that I need my kids to grow up faster to teach their mum "how to work the gadget"!

So my goal by the end of the year is to perfect the art of uploading cards to the blog and hopefully to share some secrets, hints and techniques along the way.

I am very excited at the moment as Regionals are approaching and the new Stampin' Up Summer Mini Catalogue starts 1 December. So watch this space for updates and details.

Comments are more than welcome as are hints for navigating the creation, editing and maintenance of blog spots!