Only 4 days to go until convention

Hi Crafters,

Excited yet! Only 4 days until convention and I've heard some of you have already started heading out towards lovely Brisbane - as for me only 3 more sleeps to go and I can't wait!

Next week there will be a delay in posting due to the fact I'm away, but no doubt I'll have some stories when I get back.

Now onto the pics...

 

 

Top Row L-R: Karen Rogers, Janet Mills, Alison Hydes.

Middle Row L-R: Lisa Bullock, Debbie Lamb, Delyc Cram.

Bottom Row L-R: Julie Calkin, Paula Dobson, Angela Palmer.

 

Better go and finish my swaps, have a safe and fun week everyone!

 

Hope you all had a fantastic Mothers Day!!

Hi Stampers,

Well I'm sitting here and it's almost 4am while doing this post the reason is I've been spending the last few weeks prepping photos from a photo shot I took, and while I'm a little late I did indulged myself with a day off on Sunday and did NOTHING! While enjoying my 8th Mothers Day.

I can now tick that job off and onto the next... convention swaps; all the items have been on our table for the last week half done I'm lucky I have such an understanding husband.

I hope you all had a fantastic Mothers Day; I made a fantastic card from Ann Wills stamp club which my Mother-in-law loved.

Enjoy this week’s pic...

 

Top Row L-R: Rhonda Fawcett, Vanessa Baker, Barbara Bicknell.

Middle Row L-R: Sally Williams, Alison Hyde, Rachael Knight.

Bottom Row L-R: Louisa TC, Judy Beetson, Karen Lister.

 

Have a fantastic week everyone... PS only 9 sleeps to go

 

 

18 days and counting

Hi Stampers,

Well it's only 18 days now until convention and I'm really getting excited. Remember registration closes tomorrow Monday 6th May, so be quick if you want to go!!.

I've had a fun week this week with the computer breaking down and my camera playing up,  that I almost wasn't able to post this week. However with a stroke of luck the computer is being nice today and I can put together the pics of the week.

Each week I have to select from all your great card making creations and some weeks are harder than others, this week being the hardest. I only get to select 9 pics (otherwise you can't really see the images) but I did end the week with 15 and after a long hard sort through,  I managed to get 9... phew

Enjoy this weeks pics...

 

Top Row L-R: Sharon de Vos, Sharlene Meyer, Narelle Hoggard

Middle Row L-R: Ann Wills, Delys Cram, Julia Leece

Bottom Row L-R: Karen Rogers, Debbie Lamb, Paula Reid

 

Have a fantastic week...

 

 

Convention is almost here...

Hi Stampers,

Well it's only 24 days away from the Australasian Stampin Up Convention, and if your as excited as I am, you've already thought about packing your bags or may have even started. I think a spare carryon bag will come in handy for all those extra goodies you'll get.

Here are some items you could think about bringing...

· A map - download a map of the area you could plan ahead and organise some places to go on your down time.

· A journal - don't forget to add those special moments down on paper.

· A camera - not only to take photos of swaps but all the people you meet and places you’ve been.

· A small drawstring backpack - one that can be folded down so when you want to pop down to the shops or go sightseeing, so you’re not taking a big bag everywhere.

· Sunglasses - even though were inside most of the day you’ll still need to pop out for lunch and I know I always forget these.

Also a little tip to help make your clothing items smaller in your suitcase (so you have more room for other things) I roll all my cloths up in a roll.

 

If you have any cool ideas on what to bring and would like to share drop me an e-mail.

Now onto the pics...

 

Top Row L-R: Karen Rogers, Jacquelyn Williams, Lisa Bullock

Middle Row L-R: Ann Mangnall, Sally Williams, Keryn Campbell.

Bottom Row L-R: Janet Mills, Rhonda Fawcett, Angela Palmer.

 

Have a great week everyone!

 

 

 

MDS Challenge #1

Hi Guys,

Well school holidays are here and I'm enjoying not getting up early each morning to drop the kids to school.

 

MDS challenge #1

This week I thought I'd do an MDS challenge, it's been a while since my last. All you need to do is make a card or page usng the colour combination below. You can use any embellishment or stamp set, just mark the post "NZSU MDS challenge #1".

Competition Dates: Monday 22nd April - Monday 6th May

Winners Announced: Sunday 12^th May

Conditions: Must be produced on the Stampin Up MDS software.

Challenge Colours

 

(Melon Mambo, Daffodile Delight, Tempting Turquoise)

 

As a winner you will be posted on the site and can use the NZSU winner flag on the winning post.

 

 

Now onto pics of the week...

 

 

Top Row L-R: Julia Leece, Janet Mills, Ann Wills.

Middle Row L-R: Paula Dobson, Sally Stuart, Alison Hydes.

Bottom Row L-R: Rachael Knight, Debbie Lamb, Sally Williams.

 

Have a great week everyone :)

 

 

 

 

MDS week 2

Hi Stampers,

Well some of you might already have kids/Grandkids home for the school holidays and some of you might be waiting till the end of this week like me.

Why not entertain your kids by letting them use MDS and get them to take pictures of something they have enjoyed within the week, then get them to lay them up on a MDS page. Doesn't have to be full of embellishments, just something to show how they felt - that's the joy of MDS paper waste control.

Tricks: If you want to move an object within a page a fraction, you can either click on the item until the grey square appears and move it with your mouse or my tip is to use the arrow buttons on your computer key board. This will move them a small position in direct of the arrows.

Tips: With MDS being a downloadable item, make sure to back up the programme file on either an external hard drive or DVD. This saves you downloading again should your computer experience problems.


Now onto Pics of the week...

 

Top Row L-R: Paula Reid, Jacquelyn Williams, Rachael Knight

Middle Row L-R: Katrina Criglington, Alison Hydes, Keryn Campbell

Bottom Row L-R: Rhonda Fawcett, Debbie Lamb, Sharlene Meyer

 

Have a great week everyone.

 

 

MDS Week 1

Hi All,

This is the first of my MDS Tips so I thought I would share some tips from others you may enjoy.

Ann Wills: Before you open your MDS, right click on the icon and choose 'Run as Administrator'. This will allow you to use more functions such as making your own punch shapes (Only required when using Windows Vista or newer)

Jacquelyn Williams : When filling a punch with DSP, double click within the punch shape and the "Punch Image Editor" field appears. This gives you the ability to reduce or enlarge the DSP or select a certain area within the paper.

My tip is: If your wanting multiple images drop shadowed, hold the "shift" key down and click on each image, this gives you the ability to make one drop shadow percentage across all images instead of doing each one individually.

If you would like your tips or tricks published, just drop me a line and I will link your blog to the tip for that week.


Now onto pics of the week:

 

Top Row L-R: Janet Mills, Delys Cram, Yvonne Walker

Middle Row L-R: Ann Wills, Jenny Humphreys, Julia Leece

Bottom Row L-R: Alison Hydes, Sally Stuart, Paula Reid

 

Have a fantastic week everyone.

 

 

MDS

Hi All,

Hope you all had a fantastic Easter Sunday. I ended up with 23+ people at our house for fun games and Easter hunts with the kids, hence the one day delay in my post this week.

As you know MDS was released within New Zealand and Australia last week and I'm sure most computers have been overflowing with great creations.

Starting next week I thought I would go over a few tips and tricks for this programme, so watch this space.

Now on to the pics for the week...

 

Top Row L-R: Roz Begbie, Rachael Knight, Keryn Campbell

Middle Row L-R: Judy, Sharlene Meyer, Rhonda Fawcett

Bottom Row L-R: Susan Wong, Sally Williams, Jacinta Agent

 

Have a fantastic week everyone.

 

Cookies what are they?

Hi Stampers,

Well what a busy week it's been for me with only small moments to myself, you sometimes feel overloaded. 

I think we often find we have many hats, either being a Mum or Dad, being a teacher, a provider or even just a worker - however I think it's always good to find time for yourself whether it be crafting or just sitting down by yourself and watching TV. This week I would like you all to take one hour a day for yourself and do whatever makes you happy, because you never know what tomorrow may bring.

Based on that, I thought I would go over "Cookies" and what they are. Now I'm not referring to the nice ones stored in a jar at home that you were never able to eat, but the ones that relate to the computer. 

What are cookies? A cookie is just one or more pieces of information stored as text strings on your computer. Some webpages will send you a cookie and the web browser  (i.e. Chrome, Internet Explorer etc) will store it . The browser then returns the cookie to the web page the next time the page is visited.

Sometimes the information stored in the cookie is out of date  (i.e. not updating current information) and therefore you may want to clear them now and again. And to do this, use these steps...

If you are using Internet Explorer for example, in the toolbar along the top select "Tools > Internet Options" and follow as per below.

Now with all that cleared up (mind the pun) we can look at the pics of the week...

Top Row L-R: Roz Begbie, Narelle Hoggard, Alison Hydes

Middle Row L-R: Vanita Hurbuns, Helen Williams, Paula Dobson

Bottom Row L-R: Jacquelyn Williams, Delys Cram, Ann Wills

Enjoy your week eveyone

And the Winner is...

Hi Stampers,

Thank you to everyone that entered the Week 8 NZSU colour challenge I can now confirm the winner is, drum roll please....

NZSU Week 8 Challenge winner

Angela Palmer

 

I loved the colours used on the card along with all the tools used to make it, from embossing folders through to embelisments and punches.

Congratulations Angela drop me an e-mail with your courier details and the stamp pad will be in the post. 

 

 

Just on another note as you are all aware this week is the final week for SAB so don't forget to place your orders so you can qualify for some fantastic free product.

 

 Now onto this weeks pics...

 

 

Top Row L-R: Karen Rogers, Tee-Jay Horrell, Julia Leece

Middle Row L-R: Debbie Lamb, Sharlene Meyer, Sally Williams

Bottom Row L-R: Susan Wong, Janet Mills, Lisa Bullock

 

 

Enjoy your week everyone.

 

 

 

 

Rounds the Bays

Hi All Crafters,

Once again this weekend has produced some fantastic weather, who would have thought its Autumn. It was so hot today I felt sorry for all those runners doing round the bays, did anyone enter today? My husband did, I of course stayed inside and enjoyed the air conditioning at home, sounds bad I know but hey we all can't compete!

Today is the last day for the NZSU Week 8 Colour challenge, for those that haven't entered you have until midnight tonight. Thank you for all those that have already entered, I have some fantastic cards to select from!

Now onto the pics of the week...

Top Row L-R: Jacquelyn Williams, Helen Williams, Ann Wills

Middle Row L-R: Angela Palmer, Alison Hydes, Sally Williams

Bottom Row L-R: Kaycee Hobbs, Tee-Jay Horrell, Paula Reid

I wish you all a safe week.

Last week for the Challenge

Hi Everyone,

I hope you've all had a fun and creative week.

I haven't been able to get any crafting done this week, however did spend some time at my 3 year old's kindy making shortbread using the "Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps".  I was presently surprised to see how well the kids were able to swap the silicon shapes and how well the handle fitted snuggle into their hands.

Now just a reminder, this week is the last week for the challenge so please make sure your entries are in. I can't wait to see what you can create with the colour coach.

Well onto the pics...

Top Row L-R : Alison Hydes, Julia Leece, Sharlene Meyer

Middle Row L-R : Janet Mills, Rhonda Fawcett, Debbie Lamb

Bottom Row L-R: Paula Reid, Karen Rogers, Paula Dobson

Happy stampin everyone.

Week 8 Challenge

Hi All,

What a fantastic hot week we have all had, in Auckland we have been blessed with so many hot sunny days.  I must say however, the tomato plants has taken a beating with the heat - even with all the water I give them - but the plus side is more time in the pool . Yeah!!

Over the next fortnight I have a challenge for all you Stampin Up! NZ Demos. I really liked the way Paula ran these from time to time so I thought let's do it again.

Week 8 Challenge:

Make a card or Scrapbook page using your favourite colour combination from the "Color Coach" using the Creative Combination selection of the color coach. And  place somewhere on your Blog page "NZSU Week 8 Color Challenge" I will select one winner from over the two week challenge dates. 

Dates of Challenge: 

• Monday 25th February 2013 - Sunday 10th March 2013

Prize:

• 1 Brand new, new design Cherry Cobbler Classic Stamp Pad

Conditions: 

• You must use current Stampin Up! color card stock and DSP, this can include the new seasonal catalogue DSP.
• Use ONLY the "Creative Combination" color selection of the Color Coach.
• Open to NZ Demonstrators only.
• Prize is not transferable for cash.
• The Judges decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

Now onto this weeks pics:

Top Row L-R : Delys Cram, Debbie Lamb, Heather Stewart

Middle Row L-R : Deb Rawson, Rhonda Fawcett, Julie Butler

Bottom Row L-R : Louisa TC, Susan Wong, Angela Palmer

Have a fantastic week everyone!

Week 3 Photo Tips - Final

Hi Everyone,

I hope you have enjoyed the photo tips over the last few weeks, I have enjoyed sharing my experience with you all.
I'm going to finish off the tips this week by focusing on final presentation. As you know we have covered:

• Making sure your camera lens is clean.
• Shooting your image on a neutral background, preferably lighter in colour.
• Make sure you allow enough background in the image, but not too much that it looks lost in the picture.
• If taking photos inside using a flash, make sure the flash is strong enough to cover the image.
• When taking a photo in natural light, make sure the sun is sitting behind your back.

The next stage is placing your object face up - lying it down will make the image look lopsided and potentially out of shape. If your photographing a card, slightly tilt the card so you can see it in a three dimensional manner - this creates depth. When shooting a scrapbook page, prop it up; a book stand is a great background support (set it in front of the stand so you don't see the supports), and always make sure you have the camera in focus. 

• Place your image upright.
• Create depth by slightly tilting the card
• Make sure you have the image in focus. 

 Now into the Pics of the week...

Top Row L-R: Narelle Hoggard, Julia Leece, Vanessa Baker

Middle Row L-R: Alison Hydes, Paula Reid, Kaycee Hobbs

Bottom Row L-R: Julie Calkin, Jacinta Argent, Sally Stuart

I wish you all a fantastic week!

Photo Tips week 2

Hi All,

This week I thought I would look at the arrangement of colour, in reference to taking photos and preparing them for display.
You would of heard of two colour make ups - RGB and CMYK. RGB or 'Red, Green, Blue' are called "Additive Primary Colours". These are generally used in representation of display images, which means how we display our images on television, blogs etc. CMYK or Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black refers to the printing process, meaning how the colours come out on printed form.
If you don't take your photo in natural light or with a flash, you might have a hue of colour that is not the same as the original. You need to then look at changing the image to be more like the original. This is where you will need to apply colour using the RGB process.
Now to my tips...

1. Use a flash inside when required, otherwise you will get a different colour hue.
2. If using flash inside make sure it's strong enough to cover the image.
3. When using natural light outside make sure the sun is behind your back not behind the image, as this will also change the colours.

Now onto the pics of the week.

Top Row L-R:  Lisa Bullock, Paula Dobson, Rhonda Fawcett

Middle Row L-R: Janet Mills, Karen Rogers, Tee-Jay Harrell

Bottom Row L-R: Sally Williams, Louise TC, Linda Scott

Have a fantastic week.

Photo tips Week 1

Hi All,

This week has been made up of prepping photos for a job I did during the week, so I'm a little late in posting the pics. But it got me thinking about how we all take pictures so I thought I would give you some helpful tips.

1. Firstly and most importantly check your camera lens. Sometimes we make the mistake of touching it when picking it up (or in my case kids playing with the camera). Now to the eye it only looks small but to the photo it looks like a fog has come over the image. My advice is to clean it with a fibre cloth, one that is soft and won't scratch the lens.
2. Secondly, when taking an image (especially card or scrapbook craft) make the background a neutral colour, preferable lighter than the card - this will make the card stand out. Also leave a little room around the image so you can see the background, but not too much that it's too small an image.

Well that's a few hints, I will post more next week... on with the pics for the week:

Top Row L-R: Bron Heslop, Julia Leece, Alison Hydes

Middle Row L-R: Roz Begbie, Sharlene Meyer, Delys Cram

Bottom Row L-R: Jenny Humphreys, Ann Wills, Barabra Bicknell

Have a fantastic week everyone!

Sale-a-Bration is here...

Hi All,

Sale-A-Bration is finally here, and what a great range of free product.

While going through the blogs, I noticed this week has some great creations made with the Sale-A-Bration product. With our first MDS pic for the week, see if you can quess which pic it is.

Top Row L-R : Angela Palmer, Sharon de Vos, Kathy McInnes

Middle Row L-R: Linda Scott, Narelle Hoggard, Heather Stewart

Bottom Row L-R: Lisa Bullock, Karen Rogers, Jacqueline Williams

Have a fantastic Sale-A-Bration week, I'm off to play with some of my free product!

 

Click on the link to see the creations

This week has been made up of cleaning out my Mother-in-Laws garage, and as you could imagine with 40 years of stuff it took some time. So because of this I am placing my long overdue Stampin' Up! order today, I am starting to get brown box withdraws so I can't wait to get the order in.

One small change I have made to the blog is to include a link for those who get picked for the weekly pics. Just click on the name of choice and see how these creations have been made.

I hope you all have a fabulous week.

Top Row L-R: Janet Mills, Julia Leece, Paula Reed

Middle Row L-R: Rachael Knight, Sally Williams, Vanessa Baker

Bottom Row L-R: Vanita Hurbuns, Rhonda Fawcett, Lisa Bullock

Week 2 Creations

Well week 2 of looking after the NZSU blog and I have to say NZSU have some very talented ladies.
Looking over all the blogs and seeing all the fantastic creations has made my job very hard this week to select only 9 pics for this week.

Stampin' Up! have some exciting promotions currently available, so it looks like you all have put your thinking caps on and made some fantastic creations.

Hope you all have a great and creative week.

Top Row L-R:  Rhonda Imrie, Paula Reid, Barbara Taylor

Middle Row L-R:  Delys Cram, Sharlene Meyer, Keryn Campbell

Bottom Row L-R:  Allison Hydes, Karen Rogers, Susan Wong

The Best of 2012

With this being my first post and everyone no doubt enjoying their long overdue holidays, I thought I would go back on all the great work Paula has done over the last year and select the best of the best. This is kind of a big THANKS to Paula for looking after the NZSU for the year.

So I went back over all months Jan- Dec 2012 and selected my pics. I have to say it was a tough job to only select one for each month but here they are... 

Once again thanks Paula for all your hard work I hope I can do as well as you for 2013.

Top Row L-R:       Paula Dobson, Debbie Lamb, Jacque Williams

Second Row L-R:   Tracey Old, Sharlene Meyer, Kristine McNickle

Third Row L-R:     Rachael Knight, Delys Cram, Karen Rogers

Bottom Row L-R: Julia Leece, Helen Williams, Susan Wong

Last post for 2012

Hi there

I've finally got this post ready!  For the last post of 2012 I've done a review of the various catalogues we've had starting with Sale-A-Bration, the old catalogue, Autumn/Winter Mini, Holiday mini and finally the current catalogue.  I hope you enjoy the trip down memory lane.

Top Row - L to R:  Alison Hydes, Julia Leece, Sharlene Meyer

Middle Row - L to R:  Lisa Bullock, Paula Dobson, Debbie Lamb

Bottom Row - L to R:  Heather Stewart, Vanita Hurbuns, Karen Rogers

A big thank you to everyone that has contributed to this site during 2012.  I have really enjoyed managing this site this year and look forward to what Callena has in store for us next year.

Have a fabulous New Years Eve and we look forward to seeing you back here soon with your creations.

Paula

Let the holidays begin

Hi there

I can now say 'I'm on holiday' :)  I know it's only been 10 weeks since I had a 5 week holiday in the US but that was 10 weeks ago!  I am really looking forward to this holiday break to relax.  I hope you all manage to have some relaxation time as well.

Here are this week's picks.  Some of the projects reature products that have been/are on the Clearance Rack Blitz that is running at the moment.  Do get in touch with your demonstrator to find out what is for sale.

 Top Row:  Jacque Williams, Shona Edmonds, Kristine McNickle
Middle Row:  Rhonda Imrie, Rhonda Fawcett, Helen Williams
Bottom Row:  Paula Dobson, Delys Cram, Vanessa Baker

Have a wonderful Christmas Day with family and friends - keep safe and I'll see you back here next week for my last post of 2012.

Paula

One week to go

Hi there

I'm not sure where the last few weeks have gone but we are now in the count down to Christmas and most of us only have 5 days of work to get everything done before the holiday break (and I still haven't got my Christmas tree up!!).

Here are this week's picks:

Top Row - L to R:  Alison Hydes, Karen Rogers, Delys Cram

Middle Row - L to R:  Debbie Lamb, Roz Begbie, Sharlene Meyer

Bottom Row - L to R:  Keryn Campbell, Paula Reid, Sally Williams

Have a good week and I'll see you back here next week.

Paula

Running a bit late this week

Hi there

I was away for a long weekend on the sunny Coromandel Penninsula so I'm running a bit behind - never mind better late than never.

Here are this weeks picks:

Top Row - L to R:  Jacque Williams, Alison Hydes, Angela Palmer

Middle Row - L to R:  Kristine McNickle, Julie Calkin, Delys Cram

Bottom Row - L to R:  Lisa Bullock, Tee Jay Horrell, Paula Reid

Well it's only two weeks to go - I hope you're more organised than me - I still haven't got my Christmas tree up :)

Have a great week

Paula

December has arrived

Hi there

It's hard to believe we are now in December - that means it's time to get the Christmas tree and decorations up.  For those of you with children or grandchildren I'm sure the excitement will start to build.

 Here are this weeks picks - a mix of Christmas and general projects:

Top Row - L to R:  Julia Leece, Sally Stuart, Susan Wong
Middle Row - L to R:  Callena Lewis, Ann Wills, Debbie Lamb
Bottom Row - L to R:  Sally Williams, Karen Rogers, Sharlene Meyer

I hope you all have a great week and manage to get some crafting time.

Until next time
Paula