"CHRISTMAS IN JULY" BLOG HOP

Hi everyone!

Being the first Saturday of the month, it's time once again for our "Art With Heart" team blog hop. 

This month our theme is "Christmas in July".  Now is a great time to kick-start your Christmas cards (if, like me, you can't even entertain the idea of starting any earlier!) and other projects.  We hope to inspire you with the creations we're sharing today.

The "Art With Heart" team of Stampin' Up! demonstrators comprises over 90 women, spread across Australia, and is led by Claire Daly (based in Melbourne).  We have a very active online team forum, that is a great source of inspiration, support, and friendship.  If you'd like to join us, there is no better time - Stampin' Up! in Australia has a fantastic special offer on the Starter Kit, until the end of July.  Whether you'd like to join up as a hobby demonstrator (to get discounts every day on every product), or are interested in starting up a low-risk, rewarding home-based business, you can't beat being able to sign up for only $259!  (The retail value of the Starter Kit is $580.)  The fabulous Starter Kit contains lots of stamps, ink pads, cardstock, and business supplies - plenty to 'get you started', and there's lots of continuing support available.  If this sounds like something that suits you 'to a T', please email me; I'd love to have you join our friendly team. 

As with each of our blog hops, we offer blog candy - a little prize for one person who visits all of the participating blogs, leaves a comment, then emails Nikki Sadler to confirm that all blog posts have been commented on.  The offer for the blog candy is valid only for 72 hours from the launch of our blog hop; so, to be in to win, make sure you email Nikki by 6.00am AEST Tuesday 6th July.  Blog candy cannot be won by Stampin' Up! demonstrators, but we would dearly love for you all to visit our blogs and leave comments anyway!  

Today there are 12 of us taking part in the blog hop.  You may have come from Kathryn Mangelsdorf's blog; however, if you are starting here, that's fine.  When you've finished looking at my blog post, just click on the link below to go on to Kristine Thompson's blog. You can start at any of the blogs along the way; you'll do a 'circuit', and cover all 12, as long as you follow the links on each blog.


Right, enough of the formalities, and onto my projects.  I have chosen to make a little gift set, using the "I Wish" Simply Scrappin' kit, that's on page 137 of the Stampin' Up! catalogue.  Be sure to take a look at the kit; it is seriously good value for your Christmas projects.  The kit costs $36.95, and contains enough textured cardstock, co-ordinating Designer Series Papers, and self-adhesive die cuts to make numerous scrapbook pages, or DOZENS of cards! 


Here is the card I made:




I thought it was way past time I gave a bit of love to my Two-Step Bird Punch.  For these projects, I've used both sides of some Designer Series Paper from the "I Wish" Kit.  The key colours are Old Olive, Chocolate Chip and Real Red; yummy, don't you think?!  The patterns on the paper co-ordinate with the Snow Swirled stamp set; the Build-A-Brad just above the bird was created by stamping a snowflake onto Designer Series Paper, punching it out with a 1/2" circle punch, and adhering it to the brad base, before topping it off with an epoxy sticker (that comes in the Build-A-Brad set).  I LOVE being able to make co-ordinating embellishments.


To go with this Christmas card, I made a darling (if I may say so myself) little gift box:




The photo's a bit fuzzy - sorry.  There's a clearer one coming up!  I've made these little pillow boxes before only using cardstock, but I LOVE the result using paper.  I'm totally in love with how cute this is!


Next, I made some tiny little gift tags, to go inside the pillow box:




I got a little carried away and made 10 tags, but by the time I'd added a couple of layers to the tags, they wouldn't all fit inside the gift box!  The pillow box will hold 6 of these tags.


Here are all my projects together, followed by a list of Stampin' Up! products used to make them:





Stamps: Snow Swirled, Spotlight on Christmas, Tiny Tags, Weathered

Card: Kraft, Chocolate Chip textured, Old Olive

Ink: Chocolate Chip stampin' pad and marker, Old Olive stampin' pad, Versamark inkpad

Other: "I Wish" Simply Scrappin' Kit, Build-A-Brad, 1/2" Circle Punch, Wide Oval Punch, Star Punch, Medium Jewelry Tag Punch, 1 1/4" Square Punch, 1" Circle Punch, Crop-a-dile, Linen Thread, Pillow Box and Top Note Dies (used in the Big Shot), XL Two-Step Bird Punch, sponge daubers, Sticky Strip, dimensionals



Thanks for taking the time to visit my little corner of the world today.  Next up on the blog hop is the gorgeous and creative Kristine Thompson; please go see what she has made, and enjoy the rest of the tour!  Don't forget to leave a comment for each of us, then email Nikki Sadler, if you'd like to go into the draw for this month's blog candy.



In case you need a bit of help, here's a complete list of all my team members taking part in the blog hop:

Ros Davidson http://www.rosdavidson.typepad.com Di Dunk http://www.stampartbydi.typepad.com Kathryn Mangelsdorf http://www.klm55.blogspot.com/ Christine Blain http://www.christineblain.typepad.com Kristine Thompson http://www.inkspotcreations.com/ Nikki Sadler http://www.inkyart.com.au/ Erica Boxall http://www.ericaboxall.com/ Kathryn Ruddick http://www.katlodesigns.com/ Sue Madex http://www.madexcreations.com

Claire Daly

http://www.clairedaly.typepad.com/

Judy May http://www.judymay.typepad.com Alisha Watson http://www.ratherbstampin.typepad.com/