Birthday Passionette...........

...........Hello it was Chel's birthday yesterday !! I hope you had a Happy Birthday Michelle and I hope you didn't end up doing any decorating. You see Chel is a bit like me gets the decorating bug 4 weeks before blimmen Christmas LOL. I make all the birthday cards for my girls based on their fave colours, and Chel's favorite colours are brown and green. I have used both for her card ......in tiny amounts LOL.

here it is

A bit of Certainly Celery, Bordering Blue and an even tinier bit of Chocolate Chip to ground everything. Flight of the Butterfly stamp set was stamped in white craft ink on both Bordering Blue and Certainly Celery card cut out and mounted on a piece of Whisper White card that has been edged using the eyelet border punch. The background was stamped in white craft ink on celery using the bootiful Bella Toile( I love this background so elegant). Sentiment reads ** hope your day is as happy as it gets** how sweet is that? tiny pearls and a fabby sating bow finish off what I think is a very elegant looking card. Now I made this a while ago ( I use a birthday book to make sure I don't forget birthdays) and didn't have the matching punch at the time, I cut the flutters by hand. Michelle I hope you like it darling, big hugs xxxx

Oooo I also want to show you this...

I have treated myself to this absolutely gorgeous spottiness. The lovely and talented Jane with a posh name makes those beauties and I just had to have one as soon as I saw them. Now let's play a game which one do you think I went for? leave me a comment and do tell. Even hubs liked it. It holds tons and I have used it for the first time last night, I did a workshop for a bunch of excited ladies, hello Lorraine and everyone I hope Doris still has the red nose LOL.

Ok I am off to bed early tonight as I have had a hard week and I am v tired, speak soon have a great weekend.

Not enough time to load the video but..............soon. Big hugs Monica xxx

Swapping...

hello how are you? Well I have been so busy creating lately but I cannot share much of it yet which is a shame but it will appear on here in the end. AND I have made my Christmas list(yayeee). Top of it is the new Lightroom software to help me sorting, editing and sharing my photos on the web LOVE IT and I will be such a good girl from now till then LOL> I am currently using the free trial version and I love it sooo easy( Yes Leigh is all your fault).


So what I have been working on lately? Tons of swaps, I love samples and my customers love samples as well, so I have joined a few organized swaps on ILWS. The most exciting one is a catalogue swap where 10 of us chose to CASE samples from the catty. I couldn't pass on that one and I ended up joining two groups. This is one of the cards I chose to case the other you can see on page 57, unfortunately I forgot to take a picture before I have sent them off. Is the cherish one and it features a favourite stamp set, Baroque motifs.

Back to the ones I have taken a photo off, like a breath of fresh air after all the Christmassy projects I have been working on lately, although I have spent some time today working on Valentine !!

Tempting Turquoise , Rose Red, Choc Chip, Certainly Celery and a touch of Pumpkin Pie makes it for a joyful colour combination that just screams fun. I choose this one because of the stamp set, Big Bold Birthday has to be one of my favourite stamp sets ( I like it even more than the Crazy For Cupcakes*shocking I know*). I tweaked it a little bit but on the whole kept with the same layout and colours, well it is perfect as it is.

Now you might remember I told you in my last post about longing for a pretty Christmas planner. Well I can tell you that I am the luckiest girl out there. Dawn one of my gorgeous Passionette took pity on me and sent me this beautiful, beautiful planner.

Isn't it just perfect? I love it and I jumped around when it arrived on Saturday. I couldn't believe that someone took time out of their busy schedule (because lets face it we are all in our 5th gears this time of the year) to make ME something as beautiful and useful as this lovely planner. I was very touched indeed thank you so very much Dawn, I cannot wait to meet you and Mick on Friday and thank you properly.

Here s a picture of the inside, it even has a pocket for all the receipts, sooo sweet. I can tell you that I have spotted the products Dawn used on it in case you're wondering. In fact it was so very easy as everything she used comes out of the fabulous Christmas Jingle kit. It is just incredibly versatile as well as being very beautiful.

Now even though I am working in advance (for those that know me well YES this might be the first time ever that I have actually done that, so stop snickering) I am still busy with Christmas makings and while browsing blogland I have come across this lovely blog where Stacey a fellow demo posted the sweetest choc wrapper I have ever seen. It is so very cute I was totally inspired to make my own version and share it with you all.

I have modified it a bit and made his antlers using the Word Window punch instead of the pipe cleaner. I didn't have any brown ones and even if I had I think it would have been a bit more work trying to make it into shape. This way it literally only took me 2 minutes to construct. Fabulous for those craft fairs as well. I love our punches they are great used for so many things other then what they were designed for. Ok bed is calling me so thank you for stopping by see you again soon.
ps. video has been shot waiting for the editing...soon my lovelies sooon. hugs xxxx

Christmas Wish List Service

Hello how are you doing? OMG there are now only 4 weeks left till the BIG DAY, that is frightening especially as I haven't even started on the lists. And I really wanted to have a go at making a pretty planner for my handbag this year looks like my old method of lots of bits of paper and lists on top of lists will have to do for yet another year, unless you have time to make a spare one and send it to me, maybe ? LOL
So with only 4 weeks left I thought I would let you know that just like last year I am running my Christmas Wish List Service again. It works like this, you make a wish list (if you are like me everything between the catalogue covers) you email it to me then you simply pass on my details to all your loved ones, friends and family members, sons, daughters, husbands and aunties. I will then work closely with them to pick your special gift, beautifully wrap it and deliver it ready to be offered to you on the big day. Your loved ones will appreciate not having to go out face the crowds and scratch their heads on what to actually buy you and you will absolutely love unwrapping something that you are sure to like and want but still have it as a total surprise. Love it!
Or how about getting your fabulous Santa to really spoil you this Christmas? Get him/her to treat you to a weekend of pure crafting fun. Our Stamp With Us Retreats are the perfect gift idea for any crafting goddess, they offer fabulous value for money and a lot of fun is guaranteed you get to choose between Stratford in February and Guildford in March. Oh and every single order will get a little present from myself , well Christmas is the time for giving isn't it? Contact me for more details on telemech01ataol.com.
Now I really haven't had time to stamp just lately and I am absolutely itching ( I really hate it when life gets in the way of stamping), but it will all change though cos I will be in that craft room tomorrow for a few hours, I cannot wait. So while I was looking through my photos to see what I can share with you today I noticed that I haven't posted the last project I designed for Stamp With Us Online classes.

I really loved how this turned out. A lovely door hanger with a sweet poem complete with a magic key, then a sweet lidded box that has a drawer on the bottom. Now the idea for this set was that it would the perfect gift for a little budding crafter. The door sign perfect to hang outside for Santa to use the key and get in if you haven't got a chimney, and the box filled with a mini craft kit that would keep him/her entertained for a good few hours having fun stamping his/hers own thank you notes. Well you do need to thank Santa and auntie Mary for all those pressies don't you? I have used the gorgeous A Jolly Holly Christmas stamp set and a lot of inks to stamp my funky pattern paper. Regal Rose, Old Olive, Bordering Blue,Pumpkin Pie and I sponged the white in between with Bashful Blue.
A view of the top of the box, I just love the trees in different colours and the little snowflakes came from the Snow Flurries, set a very useful and inexpensive stamp set. And of course we must not forget the ribbon which is just delish don't you agree?
Thank you for stopping by I might have a video for you next time. Hugs Monica xxx

ps. here's the poem in case you can't read it from the picture

WE DON'T HAVE A CHIMNEY
FOR YOU TO COME IN THORUGH
AND IF YOU MISS OUR HOUSE
I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'LL DO

MUM SAYS YOU ARE MAGIC
AND USE JUST ANY KEY
IF WE HUNG UP ONE OUTSIDE
IN A PLACE THAT YOU CAN SEE

SO I'M PUTTING THIS OLD KEY
RIGHT BESIDES OUR DOOR
I'LL SAY MY PRAYERS AND JUMP IN BED
AND NOT WORRY ANYMORE.
author unknown

12 Blogs Of Christmas

Hello and welcome to the 12 Blogs of Christmas. I love Vannessa's projects and I am so very excited to do the hop myself, if you have not done this before let me tell you you are in for a treat. Is all very easy, each of the 12 participants has worked very hard to provide a Christmas inspired project or two and each one will link to someone in the chain that you will be visiting next, so you will basically end up visiting all those fabulous blogs in the chain. Make sure you leave a comment as well this way we will all be able to come and visit you back.

Ok so I have a video for you to watch and this cute little project will make the perfect gift for Christmas. I have designed these for the Stamp With Us Winter Online classes and I also made a few for an organized swap at Convention . I hope you will have a go at making thse they really are quick to make.

Now please sit back, watch the video and enjoy !! When you re finished watching hop over to sweet Elizabeth and see what she has on offer... To visit Elizabeth click here. Have a great hop hugs Monica xx

Monthly meeting..

Hello how are you? Is nearly midnight and I am blogging LOL, I am doing this safe in the knowledge that I have the day off tomorrow so a lie in will happen woohoo. I have had a full week with two workshops and worked every day as well so I will be glad of this little luxury. I have a bit of work planned for tomorrow but not that much and then the weekend is FREE. On Saturday two of my downlines are hosting a charity event for Children In Need so I will pop along to see them have a cuppa and make a few cards. I just love what the girls have prepared and I will be making both examples. Check Jo's blog for more details and if you ve got a spare few hours and live closely pop round I am sure the girls will love to see you and have a chat.

We had our monthly meeting last Tuesday 10th ( I know this is how behind I am with my blogging) and we had a fabulous time as always. I want to share the projects we did because they were all completely inspired/cased from the Convention weekend. The first project we made was this card
The stamp set is called New Year's Celebration and it was one of the stamp sets we got free, the other one was Circle Circus. I am so glad they did because I never had a good New Year set. I shall be sending all my neighbours New Year cards this next Year. Colour scheme is one that got me excited I love it. Basic Gray Bashful blue and a touch of black. Note the tiny clip? I love those

Next was our 3 d item and it was the box I demonstrated on stage at Convention. I was thrilled to be asked to do a demo on stage but I was sooo nervous lol.

Is the easiest treat box in the world and I promise you a video soon. I also showed how to make that beautiful bloom using our circle scallop punch. Colours used are Sage shadow, Regal rose and Basic Gray in the form of taffeta ribbon. Very cute and perfect to hang on your tree.

We always get to make a card a 3d item or something a bit more fancy and the third make and take is always a technique. I loved this month's one is the brayering and it was demonstrated twice on stage.

Gorgeous shades of plum, both Pale Plum and Perfect Plum inks were used and I cannot tell you how impressed I was trying this technique, it works every time and it looks so beautiful. We used the level 3 hostess set Garden Dream, fabulous set I just love it, I need to have a good play with it soon.. if only I could get some 3 hours extra in every day LOL.

Our next meeting is on the 8th of December if you would like to take part please email me for more details those training events are opened to all local demos and customers, they are fun and relaxed. We also swap cards and the theme for December is Valentine. Each card is then entered in the Best Of Show cometition and we all vote our favourite winner gets a prize and this month s winner was Michelle Wright with her beautiful Christmas card, love it Michelle well done.

The last thing I want to share before I go to bed is something really exciting I am taking part in my first ever Blog cruise **12 Blogs of Christmas**. Not even sure I know what is all about but we have a fabulous coordinator and we are all setting off on Saturday. I want you to make some time for blog hopping this weekend and check this ring out, I am sure the girls are going to knock your socks off with some gorgeous Christmas projects.

I only have one project ready, so guess what I will be doing tomorrow? Big hugs Monica xxx

Convention 2009 part 2.......

Hello I am still here, I haven't escaped somewhere exotic with my £1000 reward, although that's exactly what I am planning to do with the money, take my honey on holiday(at some point and he might have to subsidise it LOL). I had a busy week and then I got poorly not too bad( I think I managed to fight it) but enough to feel lifeless. I also think to be honest it was all the exhaustion and lack of sleep that just caught up with me. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your lovely supporting comments on my blog and the wonderful emails you all sent me. I am extremely lucky and I am not taking it for granted.
I think I will carry on with the Convention updates( we crammed so much in those few days). It was wonderful to have 5 of my first level Passionettes and 6 of my lower levels travel to Germany. We all flew into Frankfurt on Thursday and that night with Zoe's help we organized a pj party in our room. We had a few guests as well Natalie and her lovely downline Kim and a lovely German demonstrator called Lisa who had the cutest bump and inside was little Pippa( Philipa), Pippa loved the awards night apparently LOL). It was a really lovely night helped by a few bottles of bubbly that I bought in the airport and forgot on the plane LOL, the stewardess had to chase me onto the shuttle bus (I was too giddy and too excited, so giddy that 30 minutes later I left my handbag with everything in on a bench in the airport, I know, I know I am a disaster, I did found the bag and everything was well again).
I wanted my Passionettes to travel in style for their first convention and here are the gifts I have made for them. A sweet suitcase filled with goodies needed for a weekend away. I used papers from the Kaleidoscope and Pink Flamingo collection. The pattern was designed by Natalie for Stamp With Us classes and it came in handy..very. Have a peep at what was inside
Some Molton Brown goodies ( love Molton Brown), mini toothpaste, a face cloth a bath twizller and some yummy choccies. I am kicking myself as I haven't got a picture of the gifts I made for my other girlies you see I was still assembling them on our way to the airport

My gift for Zoe my lovely roomie

Inside this box was Burt's Bees Tips 'n' Toes Hands and Feet kit. Everything a girl needs to keep herself moisturized without carrying a load of bottles, I take one with me everywhere I go. Note the yummy ribbon? I used my markers to add a strip of Pink Passsion to the black and white wide ribbon . Elegant Eggplant, Pink Passion, Old Olive is the colour combo. I will share the gift I received from Zoe in my next post is to die for.


Next my swaps, I made 180 of them to swap with my fellow demonstrators



6" clear rulers backed with some of our yummy designer paper. They took me very little time to make until it got to the eyelet setting( that took a while and nearly killed my hands), I have to say a huge thanks to lovely Paula my friend and downline who helped me finished them, what a sweetie she was, the cute bucket is also hers, she couldn't make it to the Convention but her orange bucket did.


My 3 d swaps

I designed those for our last round of SWUS and they were so well received. They are made from SU's widest twill tape, stamped, stitched and filled with a mixture of spices. I used cinnamon bark, whole cloves, cardamon pods and star anise and I use mine as a car freshener so much nicer than anything I could ever buy. A lot of people asked if you could fill them with lavender seeds, you could however because the twill is quite thick the smell might not be as strong. You could use those silica gel grains along with your favourite pure essential oil.

I think I better wrap this up now I will share more next time, but before I go I want to show you my special gifts I received. Last year if you remember the top achievers got Tiffany gifts well this year we got Burberry. Honestly this is one amazing company to work for. take a look at those lovely things I brought home from Frankfurt
A lovely scarf (so very soft and delicate), a gorgeous bowling bag this the coated canvas type so very nice indeed and I also got a lovely necklace in pewter, that colour is very in in jewellery apparently. Hmm just how posh will I look this Christmas all dolled up in my lovely Burberry?

Speak soon, big hugs Monica xxx

CONVENTION 2009

Hello and I am sorry. Technology cannot be trusted and the last two posts were not supossed to be there for the whole weekend. But that's where they ended up( I will explain later) and I want to thank you for your funny comments. I want to also warn you that this post will be very long and very photo heavy, make yourself comfy and ask a loved one to make you a nice cuppa. You will thank me as you read on but make sure you won't be spilling it over the screen when you come to read a particular piece about my unbelievable experience at Convention.
I have returned form our very first European StampinUp! Convention in Frankfurt and WOW!! What a weekend! I cried and laughed and hugged and cheered and talked until I lost my voice and I loved meeting so many happy and wonderful people that share their excitement about this wonderful company. I met german demos and french demos and they were all wonderful, we were made very welcome by our german hosts, I met the Monacco trip achievers and I am wishing my life away untill June when we can meet again. The highlight however was the Awards night. It was truly amazing and I was honoured and humbled to have been awarded **Demonstartor of the Year* for the whole of the UK.

This is of course a wonderful achievement and it was the result of a lot of hard work over this last year but I loved every minute of it so thank YOU my loyal customers and my wonderful team members for choosing me as your demonstrator and your team leader, I will work double hard this next year to continue to inspire, lead you and serve you . As nice as taking the top spot was I have to tell you that I was even more excited to cheer my wonderful team, there were 6 of us making top 25!!!!
We had Linda Lloyd ranking at number 9, Rebecca Prideaux number 16, Sally Hodder was number 18 and the lovely Tricia Ablett number 20. Just amazing I was beaming with pride that night I can tell you. And what could have topped me getting first place? One of my Passionettes coming second!! and lo and behold my wonderful Yorkshire lass Jules did just that, you should have hear the cheers in the room she is so loved by everyone, a real sweetheart. The next photo of us together on stage shows just how happy I was for her ( thank you JO for your wonderful pictures), click on the pictures to see them bigger.

Here are the top 3 recruiters, Jules came first ( she had such a great year and she worked really hard, I love this girl to bits), I came second and Amanda Fowler took third place( Amanda looked beautiful in her lovely dress and she had this amazing pair of red sparkly shoes, gorgeous!!). All Julie could say on the stage was I can't believe it!!! and then later on I feel like Miss World!! LOL well she definitely looked gorgeous and her beautiful smile showed how happy and excited she was, and I was grateful she was there with me. The top 3 sales spots were taken as follow

The wonderful and ever so talented Jenni Moors came first, I came second and my Julie came third( I was on cloud nine by this point).

Here s the picture of all the European top sales achievers ( the ones that attended Convention of course, I think there are a few missing)

Next we had leadership
Leadership is awarded based on promotions within your team. I ranked 1st, Caroline Counsell came second and Amanda Fowler came 3rd. I was doing a few bearthing excersises at this point hence the wierd photo LOL>

It did all get a bit too much at one point, and yes my mascara ended up all over.

And then they announced their top 3 Demonstrators of the Year.

And here we are the 3 of us. Myself first, Julie second and Amanda third, along with the most wonderful woman that created the opportunity for us to be part of this amazing company, Shelli Gardner co-founder and CEO of Stampin'Up! She is so elegant and the most beautiful woman I have ever met. Her smile touches your heart. We shared a few quick and funny stories as I was running towards the stage each time my name was shouted, not because I couldn't wait to get there but because that was the only way for me to make it safe and in one piece. I was wearing a pair of very high heels and the floor was extremely slippery. She said that I was cute and that I would end up exhausted by the end of the night. Sterling (Shelli's husband) also made a sweet comment and he said that I should stop up there with him to save me doing all that running about. I know this post will bore some of you as is all be about myself and my wonderful team's achievements but please know that I didn't put it on here to boast but to share it with all of you that supported me and to show those that are thinking of becoming demonstrators that it can be done. You can achieve great things running your own business and I am living proof of it. When I joined nearly two years ago I couldn't believe that I would be able to sell £250 worth of goodies and was convinced that I would be my only customer, well I proved myself so wrong. If you are reading this and you are thinking of becoming a Stampin'Up! demonstrator send me an email at telemech01@aol.com, I would love to have a word and welcome you to the most successful team in the UK, take the plunge and become a Passionette!!! you have nothing to loose only a lot to gain, what s even more exciting the starter kit is on special offer right now( you get £240 worth of goodies for only £125 until the 13th of this month and you could recoup your investment in just a few workshops.)

Now before I leave I have a very funny story to share with you. You probably noticed my beautiful outfit (well I thought it was), here I am with the gorgeous Zoe my roomie. She had an amazing night herself, she found out she ranked at number 22 a lovely surprise, and I was so happy to be able to share it with her.

My outfit, I felt really good wearing it, it was comfortable but still I thought it looked elegant, the top was from Coast, my silk trousers were Armani (got to love designer outlets) and my beautiful shoes were from LK Benett. Well we got ready on the night, then made our way downstairs for the awards dinner. We got a table we sat down and started talking and enjoying the evening. About 10 minutes in I could feel myself getting quite hot, you need to know that survived the whole week prior to Convention on very little sleep as well as the night before I didn't get to bed till 4am, mix that with excitement and nerves and you've got it. I could feel my arm pits getting wet, my beautiful burnt orange tafetta jacket didn't stick a chance at hiding the evidence and when I asked the girls who sat opposite me they confirmed my fears, I was sporting two lovely wet patches, yukk. So I knew something had to be done and before desert was served I sneaked upstairs to sort myself out. My wonderful roomie Zoe offered to help me and I was so grateful. You need to picture myself with my arms up in the air and Zoe using the hairdryer to dry the patches, it was amazing just how quick that happened and in less than 30 seconds I was dry and with no sign that anything ever happen. However I knew I needed something more than that, if I wanted to secure a worry free night. In a desperate attempt we searched for something that I could use to absorb the extra moisture but we won't having any luck. You see we were missing some kind of sticky tape. I mentioned the word plaster and Zoe said I am a doctor's wife after all, let me see if I can find something in my bag. She disappeared back in the room only to return and say

**I couldn't find any plasters but I have found this...........holding up in the air for me to catch a good glimpse of it, was a SANITARY TOWEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I looked at it in disbelief but quickly realised that this was my only viable option at the time so we got a pair of SU snips (we had the bloomin snips but no glue can you believe it?), cut the wings off, chopped the pad in half and secured it to my pits. I am so pleased to report that they worked just fine and I felt confident the whole night hugging Shelli and the other achievers, no one suspected a thing but can you just imagine if one would have dropped off.......while I took to the stage.

Big hugs and lots of love Monica xxxx