Be Inspired Design Team

Welcome to the Be Inspired Design Team Blog Hop. You may have just arrived here from my fabulous, talented stampin' friend Cathy Caines from Canada. If you are starting here please make sure you hit the next button at the bottom of this post and hop all the way around. 

The theme for this hop is 'Your Favourite Stamp Set'. This was a hard one because choosing a favoutite stamp set was like picking my favoutite child - they are all my favourites for different reasons!

If I really had to choose it would have to be Birthday Blooms on page 70 and for sentiments Teeny Tiny Sentiments on page 36, both in the Annual Catalogue. (Yes, I chose two stamp sets as 'favourites' because use Teeny Tiny Sentiments all.the.time and I would feel like it would be upset with me if I didn't use it! lol.) I love both these stamp set and I will be sad to see it retire on the 30th May. Tip: Be sure you get in and buy them before they are gone for good!

I stamped the flower onto Watercolor Paper using VersaMark and embossed with White Embossing Powder. I watercoloured the flower using ink from the lids of Powder Pink, Melon Mambo, Soft Sky, Marina Mist, Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive and Early Espresso. I then carefully cut the flower with Paper Snips.  

I wanted to keep this card clean and simple, something I often struggle with! This card was originally layered twice with an extra layer of Marina Mist and Very Vanilla, however I felt it took the focus off the beautiful flower which was of course the heart of this card. Sometimes simple is best. I decided to use Watercolor Paper as the top layer to give the card a little extra texture. 

Birthday Blooms

Next up to 'Be Inspired' by is my ever so lovely and talented friend Janneke de Jong from the Netherlands. I just adore this girl and I know you will love her project today:

 

Louise Sharp
Janneke de Jong
Jenny Hall
Tanja Kolar
Maike Beimler
Carolynn Sander
Cathy Caines

My inspiration for this card come from the gorgeous Cath Kidston brand, which celebrates 25 years this year. The brand was established in London in 1993 and is best known for their hand drawn signature florals. I've always swooned over the companies beautiful vintage style - it's so very 'me' don't you think! For the company's 25th Birthday they have created a 25th Birthday Rose and I think the Stampin' Up! Birthday Bloom is the perfect flower to make a card for a friend who loves Cath Kidston as much as I do!

Seriously though...I want to moved to the London just to get tea delivered!!
"To celebrate our 25th Birthday, we wanted to bring Britain’s most-loved beverage to all of our fans and friends! We are of course talking about tea, and what better way to raise a cuppa to our British brand than with a fleet of vintage milk floats? In true Cath Kidston style, the milk floats have been decorated with four classic prints from our expansive print archive." - From the Cath Kidston Blog

On as note - do you think Daniel would mind if I got our car wrapped in vintage florals? Naaah...he won't mind at all. ;)

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Stamping By The Sea II

Preparations are underway for our second Stamping By The Sea Retreat. It will be held at East Beach Holiday Park, Kiama on the beautiful NSW South Coast. Last year was a huge success and so much fun and this one is set to be bigger and better!
Click Here for more information.

Thanks for hopping by!

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Global Design Project - Colour Challenge

#GDP133

I arrived home yesterday from Stampin' Up!'s Onstage event in Sydney. I had an amazing time and I will share all the juicey details in a post during the week. Here's a photo of some of my girls from the Tickled pINK Stampers Team:

This week over at the Global Design Project we have a Colour Challenge and you know how much I hate love colour challenges! I'm pretty impressed with myself for making a masculine card too - which as you may know was a new years goal for me, however these colours do lend themselves to a masculine card. 

I made a card for my wonderful husband for our Wedding Anniversary. We celebrated 16 years of wedded bliss last Friday. Most mornings we go to our local coffee shop to have our morning coffee together and it's the best part of his day - ok maybe mine too! Hahaha. 

The sentiment is raised off the page, how you would say - in an arc? I gently used my Bone Folder to give it some dimension and used three Dimensionals on top of each other in the centre to raise it up. I attempted to capture it with my camera with the photo below....it looks better in real life - you'll just have to believe me! lol 

I used my paper snips to fussy cut the coffee cups are from the Coffee Break Designer Series Paper and the sentiment is from So Many Shells on page 38 of the Annual Catalogue. 

So Many Shells

Now head over to the Global Design Project and see what the amazing Design Team have in store for you this week.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Stamping By The Sea II - Stamp Retreat 2018

Preparations are underway for our second Stamping By The Sea Retreat and I am super excited. Last year was so much fun and a fabulous success. This year is set to be bigger and better with an additional day added to the schedule - at the request by all who attended last year....they asked and we delivered!

Crafting and Demonstrations:

LIVE IT. LOVE IT. SHARE IT.

That is the Stampin' Up! motto for this year and that is exactly what we will be doing at our stamp retreat!

Whether you are a seasoned stamper, the new kid on the block, a mix-media specialist, a devoted scrapbooker or a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator - you are welcome to come and join in the fun. If you come with friends or make new ones when you arrive, I absolutely promise it will be an unforgettable weekend!

Over the course of the weekend you will have time to work on your own projects and also have the opportunity to create several beautiful make and take projects including 3D items. There will also be presentations from talented crafters demonstrating new techniques and products. (If you're lucky you may even get a demonstration from one of my brothers - they showed up last year and we put them to work!).

Food:

Food, glorious food!!

Tracey Tullier, my dear friend and culinary expert will be filling us with her scrumptious country cooking and I've already seen a few things on her menu list....scones with homemade jam and cream, caramel slice, melting moments, chocolate biscuits - just to name a few! All meals are included except for Thursday night. As we expect people to be arriving at different times we will not be providing dinner on Thursday night, however the room will be open for crafting with a light supper on offer with tea and coffee.

Continental breakfast baskets will be placed into your room if staying at East Beach including heavenly handmade jams and treats. Delicious lunch packs will be put together if you would like to walk down to the beach for a picnic.

Trivia Night:

Prepare for a fun-filled Saturday night of fun with friends as you try to win prizes for your team. Dress as your favourite sea-themed character and you could also win a prize for best dressed! (Last year we played bingo and it was a load of laughs.)

Accommodation:

The price does not include accommodation and you will need to make your own sleeping arrangements. As like last year, the event will be held at East Beach Holiday Park, Kiama on the stunning NSW South Coast.  If you do choose to stay where the fun is, East Beach is a beautiful and popular holiday park with a wide range of affordable accommodation options.

Have I managed to tempt you enough yet? Maybe I can persuade you a little more with freebies??

Gifts, Giveaways and Prizes:

Besides all of the beautiful make and takes and crafting projects, there will be beautiful gifts and giveaways. You will also have the opportunity to win prizes at Hospitality Cove each morning when you arrive into the crafting room. Lets just say that you won't be disappointed with your loot when you leave!

Here's just some of the photos of all the fun we had last year!

Testimonials:

"Congratulations Louise on running a fantastic craft retreat last weekend. While l know we were not devoted Stampin' Up-ers, everyone and especially you went out of their way to make the 'newbies' welcome which meant a lot. Every single detail was lovely...from the decorations, food, gifts and games and make and takes...every single thing. Looking forward to next year already. Thanks for having us!" - Kathy.

"Louise you are a legend! Along with Tracey (chef), Phyl (Louise's mum) and your posse of helpers you managed to create a truly amazing weekend retreat for me and all the ladies. It was nothing short of perfect with every detail carefully planned and executed. Thank you so much. It was a memorable first Stamping By the Sea." - Mehala

"Thank you again Louise and Tracey for organising such a brilliant weekend. Thank you to ALL of you for making me feel so welcome and making my very first retreat so memorable. I learned lots of handy tips and tricks and had so much fun. I miss you all heaps already! Bring on next year!" - Leigh

Cost and Payment:

The cost is $390.00AU with a deposit of $100 required to secure your spot. This deposit will be nonrefundable after the 30th May. 

Register:

Maybe now you are ready to join us? To register your interest please CLICK HERE.

If you have any questions please contact me via email at louisesharp80@hotmail.com. 

Hopefully I get to see you soon! 

Much Love,

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Global Design Project - CASE-ing Stesha Bloodhart

#GDP132

This week at the Global Design Project we are getting our inspiration from one of our talented Design Team Members, Stesha Bloodhart from the USA. I love Stesha's fun, bright style and the ability to add layers and embellishments with perfection. I can always spot a Stesha project!

The definition of CASE: Copy And Share Everything or as the GDP call it Copy and Selectively Edit!  Put simply, we get our inspiration from a particular project or creation. For this challenge we can use ANY element. You might be inspired by the colours, the stamp set or the card layout.

I took my inspiration from the stamp set Petal Palette from the Occasions Catalogue on page 23. I love the vintage look of the flowers and was inspired by one of my china tea cups. I used Stampin' Write Markers and carefully coloured directly to the stamp...gave it a 'huff' and stamped into Shimmery White Cardstock. I then watercoloured using my Aqua Painter. This is a note card size 9cm x 12.5cm.

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Easter Table
I hope you and yours had a lovely Easter. I thought I would share my very small Easter project and our Easter table setting from Sunday. I wanted to keep it as simple as I could, so I filled my vintage tea cups with chocolate eggs and tied them off with a Shimmer Ribbon bow and tag - the little bunny is from the A Good Day stamp set. 

Now head over to the Global Design Project and see what the amazing Design Team have in store for you this week.

Thanks for stopping by,

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World Autism Awareness Blog Hop

Welcome to the Autism Awareness Blog Hop with Stampin' Up! Demonstrators from around the globe. The hop is all about autism awareness and it’s filled with projects using one or more of the autism colours - red, yellow and blue.  

Autism and Autism Spectrum is something close to my heart as it is for many of my friends. Autism can be hard to understand as there are varying degrees of the disorder. People with autism can be misunderstood, often struggling in social situations and with social cues. However people with autism are generally quite intelligent and see the world from a different angle. 

I recently read an article in the Daily Telegraph - "I'm autistic, here's how to be friends with me" by Madeleine Ryan. It's a brilliant article and I definitely recommend the read, but I love the last line...

"You are you, and I am me, and this isn’t an autistic thing — it’s a human thing."

To make my card I combined the sentiment from Picture Perfect Birthday and the books and apple from the Bike Ride stamp set. The background paper is from the Myths & Magic Specialty Designer Series Paper, which worked beautifully with today's project.

Now to move onto the wonderful and talented Claudia Ausborn from Germany. 

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