Blog Hop : Farewell favourites

Today I am taking part in my first AWHT  blog hop with some of the awesome ladies in the Art With Heart Stampin' Up! Team - I am super excited!! - it's also my first blog hop ever!!

Today our focus is on our Favourite Retiring Product...

Both the 2014-2015 Annual Catalogue and the 2015 Occasions Catalogue finish on the 2nd June, so there's not long left to place an order for anything you really want before they are gone forever - contact me to place your order.

You have come to my blog from the lovely Kathryn Manglesdorf. Blogs are full circles so you can start hopping right here and keep going until you get back here.

Unfortunately, there are lots of awesome products retiring - Designer Series Paper, cardstock, In Colour inks, stamps and accessories. I always get very sad at this time of year, but then I think about all the fantastic NEW PRODUCTS that will soon be available and I am somewhat mollified.

     

 
      My first card uses the Four Feathers  stamp set and matching Framelits (although I haven't used the framelits on this card). I masked the centre panel and embossed the feathers before using sponge daubers to create the blue panel. I find this set great for male cards and will be very sorry to see it go.

      My second card uses the Painted Petals stamp set from the Jan-June 2015 Occasions Catalogue. I'm not sure I will miss this set as much as the others as I never really warmed to it. I just don't seem to be happy with the finished product, although I have seem some gorgeous samples done by others.

This card uses all the colours in the Subtles Colour Collection which go really well together. I am going to send this card to a close friend who has been a great listening post for me over the last year - hope she likes it.










It's now time to hop on over to the lovely Kathryn Ruddick - click on the image to be taken to her blog

If you get lost along the way, here is a list of everyone participating:

1. Judy May

2. Tina Gillespie

3. Genna Gifford

4. Ros Davidson

5. Claire Daly

6. Nikki Sadler

7. Kathryn Mangelsdorf

8. Kayleen McLean  - that's me and where you are now!

9. Kathryn Ruddick

10. Jenny Van Dijk

11. Kate Morgan

12. Rachel Woollard

13. Barbara Lindsey

Convention 2015 Wrap-Up

Now that I have been home from the Stampin Up! 2015 Convention for more than a week, I can process what I saw, learnt and felt about it all. It is a very exciting time, especially as this year it was the Global release of the 2015-2016 Annual Catalogue. The release was video-taped and streamed later in the day to the whole world!
Part of the excitement is receiving new stamp sets and we weren't disappointed this year. We all got the set "I Think You're Great" and were given the opportunity to make projects with this new set and some other new products.

Here are my finished projects:

This first card is made on Watercolour Paper using the gorgeously scrumptious colour Watermelon Wonder. The banner is Mint Macaron and the leaves on the flower are Cucumber Crush. It was quite a simple card to make, but very effective. The water-colouring should probably be a bit richer in colour, but I didn't want to make it too wet as I had to transport it back to my room and didn't want to make my bag all wet.

On this second card we used markers direct to the stamp and didn't cover the whole stamp. The colours used were Cucumber Crush and Mint Macaron. We also used a piece of the DSP from the Everyday Chic Designer Series Paper to make an accent down the side of the card. Of course, no card is complete without a little bling, so some Rhinestones were added after the sentiment was mounted on dimensionals.

For this third card, we used a technique called "Kissing", which is very effective and one I will be teaching in an upcoming class, so contact me if you would like to know more....

The envelope at the back is made from the gorgeous new In Colour Collection Paper Stack - I can't wait to get my hands on this!





These first 3 cards all use the same stamp set, which shows you how versatile it is. I love it when you can make a whole range of cards from one set, as it makes them great value for money.

This fourth card uses a new Paper Piercing Set called "Updated Essentials" and includes some words - happy, hello and for you and co-ordinates with the flower medallion stamp and punch. We got to try it out in the Product Playground, and I made this card with my sample when I got home.







Of course, there were lots of other exciting things happening at Convention and it was great to catch up with lots of Demonstrators from other States that I have met in previous years, as well as meet and make lots of new friends. Everyone is extremely friendly and welcoming and if you would like to join my team and take part in lots of events like this, then just give me a call.

Thanks for stopping by
Happy Stampin'

Kayleen

I'm a very naughty girl :)

I can't believe it has been almost a year since I have posted on my blog. To be honest, I got a bit disheartened as no-one seemed to be looking at it, so I kind of gave up.

Well I have just come back from the Gold Coast where Stampin' Up held their 2015 Convention, and I am inspired to get my blog back on track.
This years Convention coincided with the global release of the 2015-2016 Annual Catalogue and it was a very exciting time. We were the first Demonstrators in the world to get our hands on the AC, and there was much excitement, I can tell you. If you have ever been in a room with 600 screaming women, that should give you some indication. They also released the 2015-2017 In Colours, which have the delectable names of Watermelon Wonder, Cucumber Crush, Delightful Dijon, Mint Macaron and Tip Top Taupe.

The catalogue will go live on June 2, 2015 and you will find it hard to not want EVERYTHING in it. I have been lucky enough to be able to pre-order some of the new products, so stay tuned for some sneak peek samples.

We also received one of the new stamp sets called "I Think You're Great" and made some awesome samples while at Convention. Stay tuned for pics to follow....

Thanks for stopping by

Happy Stampin'

Kayleen