Monday Madness...

Kia ora koutou

...Just a quick one.
I taught my first card-making class today.  It was awesome, had a fantastic time with the ladies - I can't wait for my next  'Monday Madness' card class (which is next Monday, lol).  We made three love cards, focusing on 'wet and dry' embossing.

Love Cards

                        

Have a great week everyone...would love to get your comments.  Please join me again :)

Ka kite ano

BCH Stampin

What's Your Story?....

Kia ora koutou

...Often, people ask me how did I get into card-making?  Well - this is my story....

My son Xavier was two and a half years old when he was diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental disorder - Autism.  My partner and I cried when we were told of his diagnosis....oh my god the grief - it was shocking, heartbreaking, feeling of uncertainty and hopelessness - our beautiful boy had been given a lifelong sentence of living with a disability :(

Thankfully he was diagnosed young, which meant we could seek help and give him a head start.  I enrolled him into Autism Queensland - Early Intervention Programme, it was a year long programme, two days a week, involving highly specialised teachers and therapists (speech, occupational), the whole enviroment - even the classrooms and playground were specially designed for children with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), understandably the programme was expensive and the waiting list was long....
One lucky day, we got a phone call from Autism Queensland - they had a vacancy for Xavier at their Sunnybank premise (this meant a three hour round trip from where we lived).  We said yes and decided to move closer.

We moved to a suburb called Kingston in Logan.  It was affordable, close enough to my work and only 20 minutes away from Sunnybank. I was now in a new area and I wanted to meet the locals, so I went down the road to the local community center Kingston East Neighborhood Group. They were running several free programes for the community, I joined three of them - craft, sewing group and card making (it was the beginning of the end, lol).  This is where I fell in love with card making - the beautiful people I met, and the wonderful friendships made. The lovely lady Ursula (my mentor) was and still is teaching card making classes at KENG - she is also a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.  One of my friends in our card making group wanted to host a Stampin' Up! party for Ursula to demonstrate at and also to get the hostess benefits (free products and big discounts).  I went along and fell in love with the products, next minute (a few months later)...I have signed up - my intention was not to be an active demonstrator, just maintain the minimum quarterly sales so I could get the 20% discount on all Stampin' Up! products.

August 2012 we moved to New Zealand to live.  As a family we were not spending quality time together, Ryan (my partner, best friend, love of my life) and I were both working full-time - we were like two ships passing in the night.  Two days of the week our little whanau (family) would all get to spend time together, even though I was a zombie tired from work....it just wasn't enough! The turning point was when Ryan applied for a job in Christchurch New Zealand (our home town, where Ryan and I were both born).  He was accepted but had to be there asap, well that wasn't a possibility, but the thought of moving back to New Zealand and being close to whanau was very appealing.

Today...I am an active Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator and loving it :) Xavier is excelling at life :)

Recently, my niece asked if I could do her a big favour at such short notice....next minute, I'm on Te Karere Maori News talking a little bit about Xavier and Autism and a teeny tiny bit about what I do with my time (Big Curly Hair Stampin).
In the beginning I didn't realise I would be asked about Xavier and his Autism until she interviewed me while filming, lol, so I was a bit under-prepared.  You will see my youngest son Bronson on there too :)

Click on this link -Te Karere Maori News to see my two minutes of fame, the interview is about 10 minutes in.



Here are some photo's of the interview

I designed a card inspired by Te Karere for the interview.

 For You - Te Karere

Stamps - Mixed Bunch, Pretty Petites (sale-a-bration)

Ink - Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black

Card - Whisper White, Sycamore Street DSP (sale-a-bration): Pool Party, Polka Dot Parade DSP: Rich Razzleberry

Accessories - Blossom Punch, Petite Curly Punch (sale-a-bration), 1" Circle Punch, Vine Street textured impressions embossing folder (sale-a-bration), Sycamore Street ribbons and button (sale-a-bration): Pool Party, Tangerine Tango, stapler, dimensionals.

Cards inspired by Sale-A-Bration and Clearance Rack

I (Heart) Hearts - Love Card

Okay, so I'm in love with the colour Rich Razzleberry...you will see it feature in many of my creations :)

Stamps - I (Heart) Hearts (clearance rack)

Ink - Rich Razzleberry

Card - Whisper White, Sycamore Street DSP (sale-a-bration): Tangerine Tango

Accessories - Vine Street textured impressions embossing folder (sale-a-bration), Heart Framelits, Sycamore Street ribbon and button (sale-a-bration):  Tangerine Tango, Rich Razzleberry, 1" Circle Punch, dimensionals.

 Sycamore Street Gate Fold Card

Love, love, love the bright, vibrant colours and patterns of Sycamore Street designer series paper from sale-a-bration...this cheerful card brightens my day and kicks the blues to the curb :)
Stamps - Mixed Bunch
Ink - Summer Starfruit
Card - Summer Starfruit, Whisper White, Sycamore Street DSP (sale-a-bration): Island Indigo, Rich Razzleberry, Vine Street pattern - Summer Starfruit, Rich Razzleberry, Island Indigo, Pool Party, Tangerine Tango
Accessories - Simply Scored, Blossom Punch, Sycamore Street ribbon and button (sale-a-bration): Island Indigo, Rich Razzleberry

 Vine Street - Love Card

Vine Street textured impressions from sale-a-bration - the star of this card.  The I (Heart) Hearts stamp is clear embossed, I am very pleased with the shiny effect - sadly, this photo doesn't do the card justice.

Stamp - I (Heart) Hearts (clearance rack)

Ink - Rich Razzleberry, Versamark

Card - Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry, Sycamore Street DSP (sale-a-bration):  Pool Party

Accessories - Vine Street textured impressions embossing folder (sale-a-bration), Hearts Framelits, Sycamore Street button and ribbon (sale-a-bration):  Pool Party, dimensionals.

....Well, I have arrived at the end of my 'What's Your Story?' post, thanks for joining my journey and reading my story - I would love it if you were to share your story....
Join me next time....I hope to post pics of my first scrapbook page :)

Ka kite ano

BCH Stampin

Inspiration = Creativity = Masterpiece!...

Kia ora koutou

...What inspires you?
For me, it is anything and everything, although - I think the basis of my inspiration is Love.

What I love about Stampin' Up! is not only the wonderful products but also the culture - like minded people, sharing the fun and beauty of creating, that is inspirational in itself!

This pic says it all :)

The other day my hubby asked me to make a card for his mum's birthday.  She lives in Kainga, a beautiful spot by the Waimakariri River - the river was my inspiration for this card.

For My Wonderful Mother - Birthday Card

Stamps - Loads of Love, Summer Silhouettes, Delightful Dozen

Ink - Midnight Muse, Garden Green, Daffodil Delight, Regal Rose, Marina Mist

Card - Whisper White, Midnight Muse, 2010-2012 In Colour Patterns DSP - Blushing Bride

Accessories - Embosslits Beautiful Wings, Designer Frames embossing folder (inside of card), 1" Circle Punch, sponge.

Last November my mum celebrated her 60th birthday (she called it her 30/30 birthday, lol)...I wanted to design a card for her that reflected her bouncy, witty, outgoing, beautiful, passionate personality - in the end, I designed a classic, elegant, beautiful card.  My inspiration - mum's beauty, inside and out  <3

...In the midst of celebrating her 30/30, I didn't take a picture of her birthday card - but, not long after mum's birthday, I made a retirement card very similar.  Here is a pic of the retirement card. 

  

 

Retirement Card

Stamps - Stippled Blossoms

Ink - Elegant Eggplant, Wisteria Wonder, Certainly Celery, Garden Green

Card - Whisper White, Garden Green

Accessories - Elegant Bouquet embossing folder, Designer Frames embossing folder, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Whisper White Satin Ribbon.

Stippled Blossoms is one of my favourite stamp sets.  It's a two-step stamp set (layered images), this is where you need to use the Stamp-a-ma-jig...I tell you what - it's so easy to use and the final image has depth and jumps off the card...so awesomely impressive ^_^ 

A day after mum's birthday is my niece's birthday.  Her beautiful, witty, charismatic personality was inspiration for this card :)

Get Your Party Dress On

I have always loved Origami - naturally it is a part of some of my creations :)  Soon I hope to post  video tutorials on all of my Origami Infused creations...WATCH THIS SPACE...

Stamps - Elements of Style

Ink - Black

Card - Whisper White, Black

Accessories - Hearts Framelits, Polka Dot embossing folder, Rhinestones, Peel Craft, Blue Printer Paper, Microsoft Office - font Jenna Sue, dimensionals.

More Origami infused creations...Must confess, these cards were made before I became a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.  I have used some 'non' Stampin' Up! products - they can be easily altered to become a true-blue SU card  :)

                          

The Red Origami Snowflake or as my up-line Shane called it a Poinsettia (I agree, it does look more like a Poinsettia than a snowflake, oh well) - this is my favourite Christmas card creation, so simple and beautiful.

...LOVE INSPIRED CARDS (literally)

Love Flower

I really enjoy making fun, cute, give to anyone anytime cards and this is one of those cards.  It was doubly fun playing with my sale-a-bration products and I (Heart) Hearts stamp set from the clearance rack sale.

Stamps - I (Heart) Hearts

Ink - Summer Starfruit

Card - Whisper White, Sycamore Street DSP - Rich Razzleberry (sale-a-bration) 

Accessories - Sycamore Street Designer Button - Tangerine Tango, Sycamore Street Ribbon - Pool Party (sale-a-bration), dimensionals.

Pool Of Love

One of my CAS designs (clean and simple).

Stamps - I (Heart) Hearts

Ink - Raspberry Ripple

Card - Whisper White, Sycamore Street DSP - Pool Party (sale-a-bration)

Accessories - Hearts Framelits, Sycamore Street Ribbon - Pool Party (sale-a-bration), Rhinestones, dimensionals.

Rose and Hearts

Thoughts of my beautiful daughter inspired this creation <3 (The rose is pre-origami, the petals were cut-out free-hand, shaped with my bone folder and then layered, glued the manipulated spiral in the center).

Stamps - Oval All (retired)

Ink - Real Red, Marina Mist

Card - Very Vanilla, Marina Mist, Real Red, Real Red DSP (don't know the name, retired)

Accessories - Labels Framelits, Hearts Punch (retired), Scallop Oval Punch, Oval Punch, Rhinestone, non SU embossing folders, dimensionals.

Heart Christmas Tree

This CAS card was inspired by another card I saw - the christmas tree was made using 1" Circle Punch.  I thought it would look pretty cool made with hearts... think I was right :)

Stamps - Petite Pairs

Ink - Real Red

Card - Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Early Expresso, Old Olive, 2010 - 2012 In Colour Patterns DSP - Pear Pizzazz

Accessories - Polka Dot embossing folder, Heart Punch (retired), Rhinestone, dimensionals

....I have so many more samples of My Babies that I want to share with you. Hope I have sparked some inspiration for your creativity...for more, come and join me on my next blog...  :)

Ka kite ano

BCH Stampin

You Float My Boat...

...that is one of many silly little endearments I say to my love - my tummy still does flip flops when he enters the room, he fills my heart <3...

Okay, time to get off my boat and talk about - Valentines, yes it's only around the corner. Here's my take on the matter - a 'love card' doesn't have to be given on V day, love is not bound by time or a date, it is anytime all the time :)  In saying that, I have made a couple of Valentine cards also a couple of love cards and plan to make more...Stampin' Up!  Has many awesome products to cater for your lovely love creations.

Today - My Little Valentine promotion kicks off  and ends on 21/01/2013. See picture and details below.

If you purchase My Little Valentine set (the four piece stamp set was created exclusively for this promotion - it will not be available again), you will get the Sealed With Love Simply Sent Kit FREE.

SAMPLES OF MY BABIES

 

U Rock My World

Stamps - Perfect Words, Simply Said

Ink - Black

Card - Whisper White, Regal Rose, Black

Accessories - Hearts Punch, Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Ribbon, Dimensionals

*Most of the products used on this card are retired.

Be My Valentine <3

Stamps - Delightful Dozen

Ink - Black, Real Red

Card - Whisper White, Polka Dot Parade DSP: Real Red, Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive.

Accessories - Hearts Framelits, Fashionable Hearts Embosslits, Aqua Painter, Linen Thread, Dimensionals, Rhinestone

Sending <3

Stamps - Petite Pairs, Simply Said

Ink - Black

Card - Whisper White, Raspberry Ripple, Polka Dot Parade DSP: Pool Party

Accessories - Hearts Framelits, Fashionable Hearts Embosslits, Simply Scored, Simply Scored Diagonal Plate, 1" Circle Punch, Linen Thread, Rhinestones, Dimensionals

Real Red Valentine

Stamps - Delightful Dozen

Ink - Black

Card - Whisper White, Real Red

Accessories - Hearts Framelits, Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Real Red Satin Ribbon, Dimensionals

A Special Treat Just For You - (A4 one sheet wonder) Gift Box

Stamps - Tagtastic, Simply Said

Ink - Real Red

Card - Whisper White, Real Red

Accessories - Simply Scored, Paper Trimmer, Blossom Punch, Large Tag Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, 1" Circle Punch, Real Red Satin Ribbon, Itty Bitty Button (heart), Linen Thread, Dimensionals

....one day soon, when I get my new video camera - I will be posting video turorials (so exciting) and the 'one sheet wonder gift box' will be my first video :)  WATCH THIS SPACE....

Ka kite ano 

BCH Stampin.