Hello everyone.

I hope that you all had a fabulous Christmas and are gearing up to enjoy a great New Year’s Eve.

I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who bought Stampin’ Up! products from me this month.  In case you missed it – I pledged to donate all my sales profits from the month of December to the Cancer Council in honour of my Mother who passed away in September this year.  I’m happy to say that today I have donated a decent amount of money to the Cancer Council thanks to my lovely customers.

If you missed out this month then you can click here: http://www.cancercouncil.com.au/editorial.asp?pageid=3 to donate some money directly to the Cancer Council. Or you can do what I do and that is join “Breakthrough” (same link) where you can pledge to donate a certain amount of money monthly directly out of your account (the money I’m donating from December sales is an extra donation).

Keep checking out my blog regularly during 2007 for more charity initiatives.  Coming soon will be charity for Ronald McDonald House and Alzheimers.

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Although this is a simple and little tip, I found it to be very useful.  StazOn and Brilliance inkpads come with a protective plastic insert that helps keep the inkpads moist and should not be thrown out – unfortunately that means having to open a second ‘lid’ everytime you stamp and getting your fingers inky before you even get started.  To avoid this, simply place a piece of double-sided tape on the ridge in the middle of the plastic insert (while it’s still on the pad), then replace the inkpad lid on top.  This will make your plastic insert stick to the lid so that it comes off with your lid everytime you open the inkpad.  No more inky fingers before you even start stamping!   To make sure the insert stays put even longer, try using a strip of Stampin’ Up! Sticky Strip which is heavy-duty and will last even longer than double-sided tape.

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Yep, that time of year when I’m desperately trying to find something to give to the children’s teachers.  I did give them a mini stamp and ink spot in those little stamped gift bags I made but I wanted to give something extra.  It’s hard to know what a woman will like but I figure that giving chocolates will probably please 99% of the female population.   I bought a few large boxes of Lindt Balls but wasn’t keen on just wrapping up a box in Christmas paper… seemed to boring to me.  So I made these cool gift pouches for each of my Children’s teachers.

You like?   They’re so easy to make (once you know how) and look like you’ve been to a bit of effort.  You don’t need many materials either, all I have used is some 12×12 red cardstock, white cardstock, some ink and stamps, a clear button, gold cord, cellophane bag and gold embossing powder for the tag.  All the products are from Stampin’ Up! (and available for purchase through me ).

Look out early next year for announcements on special classes where I’ll be teaching how to make this gift pouch plus other boxes just in time for Easter!  Oh I can’t wait to make one of these filled with mini Easter Eggs.

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Do you like making ATCs?  If you’re not up-to-date on ATCs I’ll tell you that ATC stands for Artist Trading Card.  Just like people collect footy cards or YuGiOh cards, these are trading cards that are hand made.  For more information on ATCs check out this link: http://www.cedarseed.com/air/atc.html – there’s a whole heap of information there on ATCs.

So here’s one that I made for Buzz and Bloom a little while ago.

The base of this ATC is cardstock that I inked up and then edged with a Gold Krylon pen.  On the base I have attached a slide pocket from from the Stampin’ Up! Pockets & Pieces die cut sheet. Check out page 104 of the catalogue (click here) to see what the Pockets & Pieces look like before being altered.  The slide pocket was inked and stamped and I also glued a piece of ephemera into the back so that you can see it behind the transparency.  The transparency is from Buzz and Bloom and I attached a little taggy thing to it (very technical terminology here) which I inked and tied some hemp twine through.  I made it so you can take the transparency in and out of the ATC. Down the bottom I added the words “magic” and “memories” which were taken from a Collections collage sheet.

ATC designed by Angela Sargeant
Products used:
Buzz and Bloom stamps and transparency

Tim Holtz Aged Mahogany & Nick Bantock Van Dyke Brown

Stampin’ Up! Pockets & Pieces Die Cut Sheets – available for purchase from Angela Sargeant (angelasargeant@gmail.com)

Stampin’ Up! Hemp Twine – available for purchase from Angela Sargeant (angelasargeant@gmail.com)

Collections words

So.  Do you like making ATCs?  If you have tried them yet – you must must must give them a go… they’re so addictive!

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Oh I can’t help myself… I have to brag.  It was Presentation Day today at the kids’ school and my husband and I went along to do the usual “photo and video thing”… what a memorable day – all three of my (okay, our) children won a special award.  Nicholas and Thomas (twins but in separate classes) each won the Academic Award for their class and Jade won a Citizenship Award. .  All three received a certificate, engraved medal and a special book chosen for them.

Sorry to bore y’all. LOL.  This one is for any of the relatives reading.

Edited to add:  I’m extremely proud of all three of my children.  But really the awards are just a bonus.  The most important thing is that they are all so very enthusiastic about everything they undertake and they enjoy school.  I’m just proud of them for being themselves.

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Okay, isn’t this just the cutest idea?  Goodness! I sound so American. LOL… been watching too much of the kids TV I think.  But still, it’s cool isn’t it?  I only wish it was my idea – not sure where it’s from, maybe www.splitcoaststampers.com?  So if you’ve seen this before and you know where it originated, please let me know so I can give credit where credit is due.

Anyway, I think these little gifty things are just great for so many occasions: Hang them on the Christmas tree, give them as party favours, fill them with some Lindt Chocolate for your children’s teachers, maybe a nice necklace or bracelet or little bath oils, whatever… the ideas are endless.  And the coolest thing is that they are sooo easy and quick to make.  So this is what you do.  You start with these items:
One stamp set: I used Little Pieces from Stampin’ Up! because it’s a great year-‘round set… even thought I’ve used it to make little Christmas gifts it’s not a Christmas stamp set – I just used the star stamps in it with red and green inkpads to give it a Christmas feel.  The stamp set also has hearts and flowers in it so it’s great to use for other occasions too.  You also need a cello bag, I used the medium sized cello bag from Stampin’ Up! but it’s a little big so next time I’ll try the small one.  A door hanger, yes a door hanger(!) that’s what it’s actually made from :) also a bone scorer and metal ruler plus two inkpads of your choice – I’ve used Real Red and Green Galore and ribbon.  Oh, and a hole punch too – I forgot to photograph that. So you take your door hanger and stamp all over it with your choice of stamps and inkpads.

Then you turn it over and make 3 scores on the back (I couldn’t photograph this as I needed an extra hand) – you score about 1cm down from the bottom of the hole of the door hanger then leave a space of about 1.5cm and make another score plus one more score across the top of the door hanger about 1cm from the very top.  Turn your door hanger over and fold it where the score lines are.  Fill your cello bag with whatever gift you like – I’ve used a Stampin’ Up! Stampin’ Spot and Incentive Stamp in the first gift bag and then M&Ms in the next.  Place the cello bag in the folded door hanger and then holding it closed, make a hole at the top with the hole punch and thread the ribbon through and tie into a knot or bow. That’s it!  Simple, huh?  And only takes a few minutes to make.  Try one, you’ll find their actually very addictive to make.

All products used are by Stampin’ Up! (except for the metal ruler)
Gift bags made by Angela Sargeant (original source of idea unknown)
Products used:
Whisper White Door Hangers & Tags (tags not used in this project)
Little Pieces stamp set
Real Red Inkpad
Green Galore Inkpad
Medium sized Cello Bags
Bone Folder
Red Gingham Ribbon
Metal RulerTo order products or ask any questions regarding this project please e-mail me: angelasargeant@gmail.com

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Well it’s all happening over here.  We put up the Christmas tree on Friday 1st December as is our tradition – the kids love it that we always put it up on the same day each year.  Now that they’re a bit older it’s getting a lot quicker to put up the tree which is great… they stand in production line next to the box and I hand them a branch from the tree (yes, it’s fake but I love it) and they open up the branches then put them in the slots of the ‘trunk’.  When that’s all done then they can help with the tinsel and then the decorations.  First the plain gold baubles go on and then they put up their special decorations.  Each year from when the kids were born, I bought them a special decoration just for them.  They love this tradition and with each decoration I have a little note that I’ve written for them telling them why I picked out that particular decoration just for them.  Every year when they get their decorations out we also read the little notes to them.  All together now….. awwwwww.

For those of you who like piccys here’s a few:

Stamp-A-Stack Classes

Due to popular demand there’s another two Stamp-A-Stack classes coming up.  One this Friday 8th December for Christmas cards – make 10 Christmas cards for $15 and another class in a couple of weeks (more info later) which will be Birthday cards - again make 10 cards for $15.  So if you’re within decent driving distance of the Northern Beaches in Sydney and would like to attend then e-mail me at angelasargeant@gmail.com to book your space.  Limited spaces are available as I like to have small classes to give individual attention to everyone.  If you’ve never done a Stamp-a-Stack class then you definitely need to give it a go… everyone who has attended one of these has left very happy and enthusiastic and excited about the cards they’ve made.  Satisfaction guaranteed!

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Hi everyone, I have decided to donate 100% of all my sales profits for the whole month of December to the Cancer Council.

If you’re thinking of buying any Stampin’ Up! products, now is the time to do it!  Please e-mail me on angelasargeant@gmail.com and place your orders or e-mail me to view a Stampin’ Up! catalogue.

Unfortunately I’m sure that I’m not the only one here who has either seen family/friends suffer or lose their lives to this dreaded disease.  Here’s your chance to enjoy some new stamping and/or scrapbooking products while helping to raise funds for clinical trials and research into cancer.

Thank you.

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