Wednesday, November 30, 2011

ESAD Summer Mini Catalogue Blog Hop

Goes live at 10am (Sydney time) tomorrow.

Be sure to come back then to check out the amazing projects made by 25 talented Stampin' Up! demonstrators.

See you then!

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

ESAD Summer Mini Catalogue Blog Hop

Welcome to the ESAD New Catalogue Blog Hop!

What is ESAD?

ESAD stands for "Extra Special Australasian Demonstrators" and it is an on-line group just for Australian and New Zealand Stampin Up demonstrators.We so love what we do and not only do we love to share it with our customers, friends, and wonderful blog visitors, but we share our love for what we do with each other as demonstrators. We run swaps, challenges, tutorials, product know-how, and cyberstamps, and we are always there to help and support each other when it is needed.

So if you are a Stampin' Up! demonstrator located in Australia or New Zealand, then please feel free to click here to join our wonderful group

Now on to the Blog Hop!

You may have arrived here from the very talented Jacinta Argent, or perhaps you were just browsing. However you found me I am glad you are here!

Today I am showcasing four new products from the summer mini catalogue, the Marry Me stamp set, Candy Wrapper die for the bigshot, silver glimmer paper and velvet ribbon. I have made two cards and a wedding favour/gift tower to share with you, all using the colour combination of soft suede, pink pirouette and very vanilla, along with the Beau Chateau dsp.

Here is the first card.
For this card I punched out a scallop circle from the silver glimmer paper and coloured it pink with a sponge dauber and inkpad. How cool is that, you can have glimmer paper in any colour you want. I think I had better order some more, as I have already used half of my pre-order!

Here is a close up of the scallop circle.
Next up is another card which uses the same image from the marry me stamp set. On this card I have coloured the velvet ribbon with a dauber and the soft suede inkpad. I stamped En Francais on the background pink layer before running it through the big shot with the striped textured empressions folder. Some sponging around the edges of all the layers and I was happy with the end result.
For my final project I decided to make a tower out of the candy wrapper dies, which are held together with a belly band. When I brought the candy wrapper die I was a little disapppointed with the size of it, but then I saw a u-tube video of how to make it triple the size and thought how cool. While playing around a couple of weeks ago, I worked out how to also make it double the size, so from one little die, I can make three different size boxes. How awesome - three for the price of one!

Here is a shot of them all stacked up.
And a shot of the ends of them.
And finally a shot of all my projects together.
I hope you have enjoyed seeing what I have created, and should you require any information, please email me.

The next stop on the blog hop is the very talented Pauline Bennetts Barns. Click here to be
taken to her blog and continue following the hop!

I hope you all have a great Friday afternoon and fun and fabulous weekend.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky


PS Here is a list of people participating in the blog hop, in case you get lost.
1. Michelle Halling
2. Tayna Bell
3. Yvonne Walker
4. Tracey McDonald Old
5. Keryn Campbell
6. Sherylee Tutt
7. Nicole Derendorf
8. Corina Beyer
9. Sharlene Meyer
10. Kelly Nelson
11. Ann Gerlach
12. Jane Norrish
13. Richelle Fletcher
14. Jacinta Argent
15. Nicky Adamson - you are here
16. Pauline Bennetts Barns
17. Elizabeth Dyson
18. Monique Fielder
19. Ruth Clarke
20. Joanne Kechagias
21. Christie Kunkel
22. Felicity Fernandez
23. Jenny Hayward
24. Theresa "Tess" Schirmer
25. Andrea Buckland

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Baby boy card

Wow look at this card ... I just love it. I don't own this baby stamp set but you know what ... I am thinking that I might just have to buy it! I have seen some amazing cards made with it, and not your normal kind of card, but beautiful scene ones. Oh well I will procrastinate a tad longer and see whether it ends up on my next order!
In case you can't work it out, it is supposed to be a chest of drawers. The bottom was cut out with the top note die and then I just put blocks of card on top with dimensionals and scattered the items over the three drawers. The drawer handles were punched out with the small scallop in the trio punch and a brad was put through the centre.

I was very excited when I was finished it as it ended up just as I wanted it to. Thanks Kylie for the idea.

We are off iceskating this afternoon, lets hope there are no injuries this time, Sam managed to stab himself in the hand with his skate last time we went.

Have a great long weekend, I hope you manage to fit some crafting time in.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Button Buddies

One of the great things about being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator is that every year we get to attend Convention. It is three days of hanging out with your stamping friends, being blown away by the amazing work of your fellow demos, attending fantastic seminars and having heaps of fun. Another benefit is receiving new stamp sets before the catalogue is released. Button Buddies is a stamp set we received in Melbourne this year.

It is designed to be used with the Stampin' Up! buttons, but can also be used with circles or flowers, or just left as it is.

Today I have a card to share with you that I made for my friend Susan's birthday earlier this year. Her favourite colour is pink, so I used the gorgeous sweet and sour specialty dsp (which has now retired). Here is the card...
And a close up of the flower panel with the buttons ...I would love to hear what you think of it.

It is the last weekend of the school holidays and I am at karate with Sam. It feels so wrong to be up so early on a Saturday morning in the holidays, oh the things you do for your children. I am very sad the holidays are over as the kids and I have had a blast hanging out together.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Don't you love the school holidays...

I do. Love the pyjama mornings and hanging out with my kids. For the most part they are lots of fun to be around and we have a blast doing fun things together when they are on holiday. This afternoon we are going to see The Smurfs and to Max Brenner for a chocolate fix. Max Brenner is one of our favourite places to go, it seems my children have inherited my love of chocolate!

Enough chit chat, onto the card I have to share today.

When the catalogue came out one of the stamp sets we could pre-order was the delicate doillies set. I wasn't sure about it as I had the circle circus set and had hardly used it, but after going on the INKlings weekend away I just HAD to buy it.

I CASE'd this card from my good friend Amy.


I don't normally make cards this shape, but it worked well for this design. The colours were also ones that I would not think of putting together, basic gray, old olive and really rust. We got the combo from the colour coach (one of my favourite tools). It's good to challenge yourself every now and then.

I hope you are having a great week.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Monday, September 26, 2011

Forever Young

Being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator you can pre-order certain products before a new catalogue goes "live". This is one of the stamp sets I pre-ordered. It is called Forever Young and I loved it from the moment I saw it.

The card I have to share with you today is one that I made for a swap on the INKlings annual weekend away in August.



It uses one of the new in-colours wisteria wonder and also the parlor prints background stamp.

The style is a bit different from the cards I normally make, but I was really happy with how it turned out.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Boy''s birthday card

Today I have a card I made for one of Sam's friends to show you. I always struggle a little with small boys cards, so I decided to do a card with his name on it. I started off by placing small stars all over the base and then mounted the letters on top with dimensionals.

The letters have been cut out with the big shot simple letters alphabet. I purchased the alphabet a couple of months ago and I love it. Jess has even used it a couple of times on school projects.

It was a very bright fun card and super quick to make.

Til next time...

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Monday, September 19, 2011

The new catalogue is here ...


If you would like to view the new catalogue - click on the image on the right. Or if you are like me and want your very own copy to look at again and again and put sticky notes on what you "must" have then email me at nickyadamson@ymail.com and I will let you know how much it will be to have one posted to you.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Plane birthday card

What do you think of the birthday card I made for my nephew? It was another of the cards that I made at the weekend away. The plane is out of the new hostess stamp set Ain't Love Grand. It has a banner on it, but I decided to go one bigger and make a large banner with all three planes towing it.


I was happy with how it turned out and it went down a treat with my nephew.


Today is the 1st of November, and all Stampin' Up! demos can pre-order items from the summer mini catalogue which goes live on 1 December. My list is rather long, so I think I may have to attempt to cull it!


Hope you are having a great Melbourne Cup Day.


Keep on Creating.


xx Nicky

Doilies #2

Another card to share today made with the delicate doilies stamp set. This was cased off my good friend Amy. It was a really fun card to make, very quick and easy and really dimensional. I used melon mambo which I admit I have hardly used. It is a really bright colour and with the white, seems even brighter. I used the embosslits butterfly die for the Big Shot and some melon mambo buttons. A bit of bling and it was all finished.

My sister-in-law loves pink, so I made two cards the same and sent one to her. I do this quite often as since you have all the supplies out, it is just as easy to make two rather than one.

Hope you are having a great week.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Rock Guitar

Wow it has been another long time between posts ... if I don't sit down on a Monday morning and do it, time gets away on me. I haven't been creating a lot of late, all I seem to be doing is driving children around to activities and by the time the evening comes around, I am ready to blob in front of the tv. This time of year is exhausting. I can't believe there are only three more weeks left of school. I can't wait. No more getting up early and I really enjoy spending time with my kids, hopefully we may even get away these holidays.

Well enough chatter, on to my card for today. It is uses concord crush, more mustard and very vanilla. I made it while I was at Michelle's house about a month ago. I borrowed her extreme elements and grunge rock stamp sets. The more I use extreme elements, the more I think I am going to "have" to buy it LOL.
I stamped the background vanilla piece of card all over with the dotty stamp from extreme elements and used the music roller wheel for the background behind the guitars. If you have any questions about this card, drop me an email and I will gladly fill you in.

Hope your week is going well, only one more day til the weekend - woohoo.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

60th birthday card & box

Well where have I been you may ask .. the answer would be nowhere. I have been extremely tired and lost all my motivation and ooph over the past few months. Unfortunately updating my blog has become something that was just too hard to do. I went and saw my Dr last week and she is testing my blood for all manner of things, to see if it is something medical (lets hope so), so I can get back to feeling "normal" again.

I have a special birthday card and box to share with you today. I made these for my dear friend Sandra's 60th birthday. The card is a centre-step card. I love making these cards, they are so easy and look WOW.

I used the Flirtatious specialty papers and the elements of style stamp set from the new catalogue. Here is the card ...


Here is a side view...
This is the box I made for the present. It is made with the mini milk carton die.



And here is a picture of the two together.

I was really pleased with how they turned out and I know Sandrá loved them.

If you would like any details on how to made either the card or the box, let me know.

Keep on creating.


xx Nicky

Monday, August 1, 2011

The retirement list is here ...

There are only 30 days left of the existing Idea Book & Catalogue, so that means it is time to say goodbye to hundreds of products. To view a copy of the retirement list click here.


All products are on a "while stocks last" basis, so if there is something you absolutely love, please do not hesitate to contact me to place your order. If you do, you may miss out!


Keep on creating.


xx Nicky

Friday, July 8, 2011

Weeks that don't go the way you planned ...

Does this happen to anyone else? In the past 3 weeks I have had Sam in hospital with a mystery leg problem that left him unable to walk, I have managed to get a cold and conjunctivitous and it is now school holidays, and we all know that nothing gets done during the school holiday!

I thought I would do a quick post to let you know I am still around and will resume regular posting after the holidays.

We have had a very busy week this week but I am hoping I may get some card making done next week.

If you have children on holiday, enjoy your sleep ins (I definately am) and have fun with the kids.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Friday, June 17, 2011

Birthday Card #2

This is the card that Kylie made me for my birthday - it is so me, all white, bright and sparkly. If you would like to see some more of her creations, take a look at her blog here.She too used an orange base, and one of the new stamp sets we received at convention. It is a fabulous set which has some really awesome stamps in it.

She has used dazzling diamonds on the embossed piece to make it all sparkly - there seems to a theme going on here LOL.

Next time, a thank you card I received, which surprisingly is also very sparkly.

Hope you have a great weekend.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Birthday Card #1

I received this stunning card from a very good friend and fellow demonstrator, Michelle Dyson. She too has a blog, so pop over and check out her latest creations here. In case any of you didn't already know, my favourite colour is orange. I know that's kind of strange since I was a 70s baby and my bedroom when I was a kid was orange and white, but over the past 10 years it has become my all-time favourite colour. It is such a happy vibrant colour.

Michelle of course knows of my love of orange, so she made me an orange card. She used a WOW technique we were shown at Convention in Melbourne last month, which involved ripping the middle out of the centre of the card to make a frame. She also used gold spritz all over the card and it is fabulously sparkly. I tried to photograph it, but of course I couldn't get a photo that showed it.

Thank you so much Michelle, I love it.

Next time, a card made by Kylie Swain, which also shows a sneek peak of a new stamp set we will be getting in our next catalogue, so be sure to check back in a couple of days.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Monday, June 13, 2011

Growing Green Birthday Card

Are any of you as sick of the rain as I am? My kids have been home sick for half of last week, and they are going absolutely crazy today. Please please please can the rain stop as I think we all need to get outside and I would like to get some washing done!

Now on to something far more interesting ... One of my fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrators had her birthday last week and this is the card I made for her. I used the Growing Green stamp set, and managed to whip this card up in half an hour. It came together exactly how I had imagined it, and believe me that doesn't happen too often.

Here is a close up of the flower, which I coloured with my blender pen and ink pad.



I was very happy with how it turned out.

I have a couple of birthday cards I received to share with you over the next week, so be sure to come back and check them out.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Monday, June 6, 2011

Time has got away on me again...

I am having trouble fitting everything in these days ... I don't know about you, but life seems to be so busy at the moment ... what with kids appointments and my appointments, the days are just flying by.

I haven't even had a chance to sit at my desk and create anything for so long ... however I have most of this week free, so plan on doing just that. The house is clean and tidy, so there is no guilt about what I "should" be doing LOL.

I will give myself all week to create and will do a post on Friday to show you what I have been up to. If anyone is still reading my blog PLEASE leave me a comment.

Have a great week.

Keep on creating.



xx Nicky

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Final Deals of the Week

Here are this weeks specials.

Item 113838 Page 62 Right on Track Stampin' Around Wheel Was $11.95 NOW $8.37

Item 115619 Page 68 Retro Remix Stampin Around Wheel Was $11.95 NOW $8.37

Item 119975 Page 134 Vintage Type Rub-Ons Was $15.95 NOW $11.17

Item 118760 Page 134 Play Date Rub-Ons Was $16.95 NOW $11.87

This is the final deals of the week, so if there is anything you would like listed above please email me or phone your order through (0407-418-063) no later than 9pm Tuesday 31st May.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Deals of the Week are back ...

Remember last year when Stampin' Up! had their Deals of the Week promotion ... well they are doing it again. Every Wednesday in May they will be releasing deals on selected products from the 2010-2011 Idea Book and Catalogue (with up to 40% off).

The deals are available until Tuesday evening (or when they sell out). Make sure you get your order to me quickly so you don't miss out.

There are no limits to the number of Deals of the Week you can purchase and no minimum purchase is required.

This weeks deals are:



Next weeks deal starts on Wednesday, 11 May, so be sure to check back then to see what fabulous specials are available.




Keep on creating.




xx Nicky

Friday, April 8, 2011

Eat Chocolate #2

Here is another card I made for a swap. This one was for a team training swap for the new mini catalogue.

This one also uses the eat chocolate stamp set and the tasteful trim die for the Big Shot - which I think is fantastic. It makes a full 12"strip that you can use for scrapbook pages or cut up and use on two card fronts. Here is a close up of the stamped panel. To get the shaded bit on the top and bottom I have simply punched the label out again on brown cardstock, cut it in half and adhered it to the top and bottom.


It has been raining here in Sydney since we came back from NZ and I am sick of it. It is cold, wet and miserable. On a brighter note though, the kids went back at school today so at least I finally have some peace and quiet. Hopefully I can do some creating ... I have to make my swap cards for convention, which is in less than 2 weeks!.


Have a fantastic weekend.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Eat Chocolate

I'm not sure what happened to the scheduling of the posts while I was away, but apparently they didn't go through, so I will do the first one manually now.

First though I will update you on our holiday to New Zealand. The kids and I had the best time. The weather was cool and crisp but not as cold as I had anticipated, which was great. I managed to read three books while there and let Nana and Grandad do breakfast so I got to sleep in a little every day. I ate everything I can't get here - bluff oysters, green onion potato chips and yummy cheese rolls. I have come home feeling very relaxed and more than a little homesick.

Now for my post I had scheduled. This card is one I made for a team swap for the new mini catalogue. It uses the fabulous Eat Chocolate stamp set which I knew I had to have as soon as I saw it - as I am a chocoholic.


For the colour scheme I went to the Cadbury colours of espresso, concord crush and white. I used the inlaid embossing technique on the background. It is such a cool technique and adds heaps of texture to the card with little effort. The sentiment was punched out with the new label punch, which I punched twice to make it a little smaller.

I was really pleased with how it turned out - just like I had imagined in my head - which to be quite honest, doesn't happen too often.

I have another Eat Chocolate card to share with you next time.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Happy Birthday Jess

I can hardly believe it, but today was Jess' 7th birthday - my how time flies. Carrying on with the bear theme from her party last week, I made her a bear card. Unfortunately I couldn't find the bear stamp I wanted to use - heck I'm not even sure whether I own it or was just dreaming I owned it - so I used the same bear that I used on her invitations. I made an easel card in purple and white (to match the Hannah Montana bear she got at her party). Here is the front of the card: I covered the bear in dazzling diamonds and it looks amazing in real life (but I can't seem to get a good picture of it). Anyway here is a close up of the bear:And finally a picture of the card opened up.Jess really loved it. We have had a very busy day with the last day of school, the easter hat parade and her birthday. Tomorrow we have to be at the airport at 5.15am to fly to NZ to see my parents for the holidays, which we are all really looking forward to. I will be checking emails while I am gone and have done a couple of posts to pop up next week and the week after. I am still having problems with getting paragraphs in my posts (they show up on the post but get lost in the preview and when I publish the post), if anyone can help, it would be greatly appreciated. Hope you all have a great weekend and I will be back to regular blogging on my return. Keep on creating. xx Nicky

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Jess' birthday invitations

Wah-hoo I am back - and feeling so much better than the other day, the extreme tiredness seems to have disappeared and I am left with a lingering cough. As promised, I have Jess' birthday goodies to share with you. Having a Build-A-Bear party obviously meant that the invitation had to have a bear on it, so I used the first rubber stamp I ever brought (over 10 years ago) - who knew that this one stamp would create a monster! Jess chose the colour scheme of brown and orange and after looking through my dsp stash I decided to use the retired sweet always papers. I used my favourite new technique on the background. Cutting strips of cardstock, placing them on card and then running them through the big shot with the square lattice embossing folder. I just love the interest and texture it gives to a card ... here is a close up:
I also made goodie bags with the fancy favour big shot die in matching colours.

Here they are side by side, I was extremely happy with the result, what do you think? Finally, a picture of the birthday girl with her brand new Hannah Montana bear, aptly named "Miley".

Have a great day. Keep on creating. xx Nicky

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue is here ...

It has been a very busy week at our house and I have been ill for the past 10 days. I hope I get better soon as I am tired of being exhausted! I have done no creating at all and was supposed to participate in the INKlings blog hop on Friday, but on Thursday evening I had to realise my limitations (well my tiredness) and pull out. On a much brighter note, the new autumn-winter mini catalogue is here ... and it has some fantastic new products in it. I have added a link to my side-bar so if you would like to download it, just click over there. If you are like me and would like to have one in your hand to look at, mark everything you want to purchase and generally make it all dog-eared and tatty, drop me an email and I will put one in the post to you. Jess is turning 7 next week and we had a party for her today over at Build-A-Bear. It was a blast and all the kids had so much fun. I will be back on Monday to share her birthday invitations and party bags, along with a gorgeous photo of the birthday girl. I hope the rest of your weekend is fun and relaxing. Keep on creating. xx Nicky (PS the formatting for this post has gone funny and I can't seem to fix it - hopefully it will be better on Monday xxN)

Monday, March 28, 2011

Punch Bunch Owl notecard

When people order Stampin' Up! products off me I like to include a "thank you card" with their order. It is normally just a notecard size, but has a thank you note stuck to the inside with sticky dots, which can then be thrown out and they can use the card to give to someone special.

This is the most recent card I made. It is 3 1/2" inches square and uses the owl image out of the Punch Bunch Sale-A-Bration free stamp set.

The scallop circle image behind the owl is actually the homemade stamp set from the a-la-carte range at the back of the summer mini catalogue, and I just covered the "homemade and to die for" image in the centre with a 1 3/4"circle punched out of the same coloured cardstock.

I was happy with how it turned out and hope the ladies who are receiving it like it.

Til next time.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Bliss make-n-take

I have had a couple of workshops this month, and this is the make-n-take we have made. It uses the fabulous FREE Sale-A-Bration stamp set, Bliss. To receive this wonderful stamp set for free, all you need to do is spend $100 on product from the catalogue (before postage) and it can be yours.
I used an early espresso and crumb cake colour scheme and was really pleased with the results. The cream panel has been spritzed with champagne shimmer mist mixed with isocol. It has a great shimmer to it (unfortunately you can't see it in the photo).

The card was finished off with a sentiment from the Teeny Tiny Sentiments stamp set. Althought this stamp set is expensive, there are so many sentiments and I have used it so much that I think it is definately worth the cost.

Next time I have an owl notecard to share with you, so be sure to check back in a few days.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Easter Blossom Swap Card

Well what a start to the week I have had, what with all the rain we have had in the past 5 days, and then I came down with a bug on Monday and literally slept for about 40 hours out of the 48 hours to last night. However I am feeling better now, so onto the card I promised.

This card was one I made for the summer mini catalogue swap. It uses the Easter Blossoms stamp set. Orginally when I saw the stamp set I wasn't that impressed as obviously our Easter is in autumn, not spring, but when I played around with the stamp and omitted certain parts of it, I realised it was really versatile.

For this card I omitted the basket of eggs the little girl is carrying and made it a birthday card.
The background was embossed with the foliage stamp.

I think it is a really sweet card - what do you think?

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Thursday, March 17, 2011

AWOL again!

I didn't plan on this break from blogging, but an important job came up a couple of weeks ago, and I am still trying to get it finished. I think I have finally got my head around it so hope to have it all tied up today or tomorrow.

I have lots of swap cards to make which use new products from the winter mini catalogue as well as some thank you cards for a workshop I had last week. I am going to make those over the weekend and resume blogging again on Monday.

Hope you have a great weekend and see you next week.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Monday, March 7, 2011

Guest Stamper

How cute is this card? My friend Sandra called in on Sunday and brought some cards to show me. I absolutely loved this one, it is based on one she saw on the net and is a wedding card for her new neighbours. Here is a close up of the owls.

Be sure to stop by later in the week to check out another swap card I made using the Eastern Blossoms stamp set.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Friday, March 4, 2011

Hostess Gift

This is the hostess gift I made for a workshop I had last weekend. I made 9 cards to go in it, using the stamps from the level 1 hostess set, punch potpourri. I kept them all together with some black striped ribbon tied with some twine, a button and tag from the tiny tags stamp set.One of the demos at the Stampin Up Regional event in Sydney had used this idea as a hostess gift, and I thought it was a great one. You just make a 4" square card, stamp the image on the bottom right of the front cover, colour it in and punch it out. Once punched out, close the card and adhere the punched images in the holes with dimensionals.

Card design #1 -
Carde design #2:
Card design #3:
The only image you can't use in this stamp set is the bird. I was really pleased with how it turned out, it was so quick and easy to do.

Have a great weekend, I have a stamp-a-stack on tomorrow, so I'm off to prepare for that.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Punch Bunch swap card

Today I have a swap card to share with you. This card uses one of the free Sale-A-Bration stamp sets, Punch Bunch. I wanted the stamp to pop so I used a whisper white card base, which I sprayed with champagne shimmer mist to give it a soft shimmer. Here is a close up.
It looks really effective.

I hope you are having a good week, I will be back on Friday to share a hostess gift with you.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky