Stamping with Kathryn Lowe

Boy Scrapbook Layout

2013-05-13T13:29:00+10:00

It can be such a difficult thing to do - creating a card or a layout for males. Not quite so difficult with young boys though - they can be such a fun topic with their cheeky grins and dirty knees!

These photos were taken at a family get together several years ago, and I have been wanting to do a layout with them for some time. I was collecting ideas and paper colours that matched, and all of a sudden I realised that our stamp set Zoo Review had images that almost exactly matched the print on Timmy's T-Shirt.

I quickly grabbed out my watercolour card, Stazon Jet Black ink, a range of neutral inkpads and my Aquapainter to do some colouring!

A little bit of Linen Thread adds to the rustic safari animal look.

I love the Timeless Type Alphabet Dies and thought the font style went really well for the main title of this layout. I am not so sure about the Alphabet stamp set I used on the banner for Timmy's name. I love the stamp set, and the fun and quirkiness of it to match the feelings and emotions of this layout, but I'm just not so sure it worked . . . might do a rework of that section another day :o)

The colours used here are Summer Starfruit, Midnight Muse and Raspberry Ripple from our 2012-2014 In Colours. The patterned backgrounds are from the In Colour Patterned Paper Stack, the stamped images are in Raspberry Ripple Ink and the mats for the photos are Midnight Muse cardstock.

Hope you enjoyed looking at the fun photos and seeing how these delicious colours work together.

Catch you again soon,

Kathryn Ruddick

This and That Journal

2013-05-11T17:14:44+10:00

Epic Day This And That Bundle 133905

Regular Price: $62.09 Preferred Price: $55.88

Capture your moments, thoughts, plans, ideas, sketches, hope, dreams—anything and everything! Our bundle includes the five This and That products from the upcoming 2013-2014 annual catalog for 15 percent off!

Bundles includes:

* Epic Day This and That Journal (item 131268)

* Epic Day This and That Designer Series Paper (item 130814)

* Remember This and That Rotary Stamp (item 131463)

* Epic Day This and That Designer Stickers (item 131271)

* Epic Day This and That Designer Washi Tape (item 131269)

Hurry! Only available through 31 May!

Order yours today at my online shop.

Colour Refresh!

2013-04-07T14:23:05+10:00

So much excitement going on the last few weeks with the end of Sale-a-bration, then the announcement on Online Ordering and My Digital Studio now being available in Australia. We thought that was plenty of news, but then Stampin' Up! announced another fantastic change :

There's a fantastic video by Stampin' Up! trainer Carrie Cudney in which she makes a super cute card and showcases the new colours and the re-arranged colour families - it's a must see and you can view it HERE!

I've put all the details of the colour change over on my Specials & Promotions page. Make sure you check out which TEN colours are retiring and make sure if you love those colours that you have a re-inker for your inkpad, and stock up on card, ribbon and other accessories. These colours will not be re-stocked by Stampin' Up! now, so some of them may run out before the end of the catalogue. If you need to replenish your stocks, don't wait!

Email or call me today, as I am putting orders through most days and can assist you with getting your supplies before stocks run out.

Email : kathryn@katlodesigns.com

or Mob : 0418 361 931

I've also loaded a picture into my art gallery so you can see the new re-arranged colour families in detail.

Don't forget to check your stocks of those ten retiring colours and let me know today if you need a re-inker or to stock up on card or ribbon! Talk to you soon.

Kathryn

One Little Word Blog Hop - March 2013

2013-04-01T23:06:43+11:00

When I did give in to what my "Word" was subconsiously telling me at the start of this year, I really didn't think for one minute I'd have trouble with keeping up with this class.

Easy Peasy I thought, one prompt, one project each month, I can do that! Afterall, I started last year with "Twelve" . . . 12 scrapbook layouts, per month for 12 months . . . If I could survive that for the first 6 months, I can do ONE LITTLE WORD!!

I didn't count on work being so busy, I didn't count on my father-in-law being so ill for so long, I didn't count on my team growing to 38 in just a couple of months . . . and so reality sets in and there's this kind of "Oh Shucks" feeling, I didn't make it this month and I forgot about my word and I didn't do my action statement or my One Little Action . . . but then I sat down and looked over my "Intentions" for the year and realised how many boxes I ticked in March 2013 . . .

My word is LIGHT and my goal is to LIGHTEN my load, get LIGHTER, be enLIGHTENed etc etc

Here's what happened in March :

My first plan for this year was to slow it all down - I didn't want a repeat of the 2012 Lightyear . . . so far this year HAS NOT turned out that way, and so a couple of weekends now, I have had a chance to sleep in - yeah until about 8am!!!

So on those two, maybe three occasions, I have done just that! I have rolled over and closed my eyes and told myself, I DO NOT have to get out of bed at 5.30am every single day! Yayy!! Go me!!

It is amazing how quickly the day does disappear when you do get out of bed THAT late, at like almost lunch time by my standards, but what the heck, at least I caught up on some sleep! And I feel I have really needed that these last couple of months!

I intend to be a guiding LIGHT this year, and with hopefully more time on my hands soon, I wanted to get that underway from the start of this year.

Thankfully I have a team under me who are happy to be led, and to contribute and to give things a go, and in March we hosted a wonderful happy event we titled "Share What You Love".

At the end of that weekend, we had added four new team members to our gorgeous Aussie Inkpressionists group. I feel so very blessed to be a leader, it is a real privilege to share what I have learned and what I love with others who have a deep desire to learn and are motivated and inspired and want to become leaders too.

One way I intended to LIGHTEN my load this year was to just get rid of some of the zillion activities I do! During March, I actually didn't even have to put actions in place to lighten my load - although I did have to work extremely hard, learn a stack of new things and build my business substantially so that one of the load lightening steps wouldn't also mean pocket lightening, as I would still have bills to pay LOL!!

You're probably wondering what on earth I am babbling about! Well, after five years of dabbling in my Stampin' Up! business whilst working mostly full time in the construction industry, during March I was able to take a redundancy package and it is my intention to work my SU! business full time now instead of having to traipse off to the other side of town (3 hours commute every day) to a job I wasn't particularly loving anymore . . . Load Lightened!

March is also the end of our Stampin' Up! year here in Australia and I had a few goals I wanted to achieve for this year, which included the things I jotted on my May Intentions. Why May? Our annual Convention is held in May and if I wanted to do some extra "recognition stage walks" at Convention this May, I needed to make sure they were in the bag at the end of March . . .

During February I re-checked my goals, put some action steps in place, took those steps and in March I watched, guided and celebrated as each of those goal posts was achieved and each extra "Stage Walk" became a reality.

In May, with my beautiful husband, my darling mum and several of my dearest stamping friends beside me, I WILL LIGHT up the stage!

It's amazing when you put something down in writing, how easy it becomes to remember it!

We SU! demonstrators ALWAYS take WAY too much stuff to workshops at our friends houses! In January I wrote TRAVEL LIGHT as one of my intentions, and I didn't just mean on holiday.

This month, without even thinking about it, I packed about half the amount of products to take to a workshop. Just my sample board, my trolley of goodies, a simple but WOW demonstration project, a simple and pretty Make & Take project . . . the whole experience was so much easier!

And as I reviewed the month, I realised just how much my ONE LITTLE WORD was manifesting itself in my life, as it just kept coming up again and again!

My November intention was ENLIGHTENED with the encouragement to DO A CLASS . . . without even thinking of this intention, so far through out Feb & March I have attended FOUR extra Women In Business workshops and seminars run by my local council, listened to 8-10 webinars, done a social networking bootcamp . . . okay I've gone from someone who was feeling guilty about not filling out my March Activities sheet to feeling like an over-achiever who won't actually have anything left to do for the rest of the year!!

I better let you continue on this blog hop and check out what the other creative, thoughtful, intuitive and sharing women in this amazing ONE LITTLE WORD class have been up to in March. The next blog is Mrs Wookie.

If you get lost on the blog hop you can come back here to find the next link to paste into your browser bar.

Lee: http://thelinarstudio.typepad.com/embracelife

Cheri: http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com/

Lisa: http://backtoallen.com/category/challenges/one-little-word/

Kelly: http://www.septemberblue.net/

Veronica: http://www.veronicanorris.typepad.com/

Melanie: http://mellybirddesigns.wordpress.com/

Margareta: http://www.paperpilekitten.com

Nikki: http//www.inkyart.com.au

Michelle: www.table-for-five.com

Naomi: http://www.poeticaperture.com/

Ruth: http://www.suburbansahm.blogspot.com/

Kathryn: http://www.katlodesigns.com

Missus Wookie: http://mrswookieswanderings.blogspot.com

Jacqueline: http://blog.jacquelinewolven.com

Happy Chocolate Bunny Day to You!!

2013-03-31T09:08:00+11:00

Of course this is a little tongue in cheek. Easter means so much more to a whole lot of people than just chocolate eggs. In fact, a great many people don't really relate chocolate eggs to the whole Easter story at all . . .

However, if you have little ones, or if you are a granny to little ones, there is a fairly good chance you may have been among those up early this morning helping them to seek out chocolate goodies one sneaky nocturnal visitor may have left in various places around the house. Or if you're like me - any excuse for an extra dose of chocolate! LOL!

Today, it is a pleasure to share with your some cute Easter gifts my mum Jenny made recently.

These cute gift boxes in adorable colours were made using the Big Shot and Fancy Favour Die along with the very lovely Birds of a Feather Designer Series Paper, all from Stampin' Up!

This cute little purse gift is also made from the Fancy Favour Die, just use the extra score lines to fold in the creases for the gusset. And a Designer Label Framelit was used for the bag topper. See how my clever mum has made sure the adorable birds are lined up perfectly in the Framelit to go on the front of the bag?

Nice job mum!!

Well, best wishes to you and your family for a very safe and happy Easter. If you ducked away for a long weekend, travel safe! If you're having a lovely traditional roast lunch at home with your family today, have an enjoyable and memorable family meal.

As of this coming week I am working fulltime in my stamping business. I will be busily finishing off my room and kicking off some more classes. Hope to see you very soon with ink on your fingers!

Kathryn Ruddick

Stampin' Up! Senior Manager

Enjoying an Easter Break?

2013-03-29T22:04:50+11:00

Well, it's that time of the year where lots of people head off for a nice long weekend, the last one for the year where the weather has half a chance of being decent and where you get the extra day - or if you're in the construction industry you might have a string of RDS's to coincide with the school holidays.

Whatever you are doing, I hope it's a safe, enjoyable and memorable family time.

Just wanted to share a couple of last year's Mystery Box items with you today - just in time for Easter.

Who wouldn't love to receive this ultra cute bunny card with the extra choccie on the front! Of course the Designer Series Paper "Mocha Morning" which makes up the background is now retired, but you could easily recreate this using "Natural Composition" Specialty Paper.

I wish I hadn't packed up half my stamp room today to tear out a wall, I have half an urge to make half a dozen more of these cards!!

To go with this card, I also got out the aquapainter and watercoloured a cute panel for the top of a mini pizza box. I stuck to the pink and brown theme - boy am I loving that colour combination!

I do love a bit of authentic watercolouring mixed in with my stamping.

Did you make any special Easter gifts this year? We would love to hear about them. Please leave a comment below to let us know what you have been creating!

I'll be back over Easter, to share some more cute Easter projects, this time created by my favourite guest artist - my mum Jenny.

Stay safe, and have fun,

Kathryn.

On-Line Ordering is Here!

2013-03-26T06:49:42+11:00

And so's My Digital Studio!

Wow, such an exciting day for Stampin' Up! Demonstrators and all the lovely people we do business with everyday.

My Digital Studio is easy enough for beginners, but includes a variety of tools for advanced designers too. Anyone can try it FREE for 30 days! You can download it straight from our brand new on-line shopping function!

To check out our online store, visit my webpage and up in the top right hand corner under my name is the Shop Now button - Go for your life!

You can visit the My Digital Studio website and watch all sorts of training videos on how to use the software, and there is an Inspiration Gallery with over 21,000 samples!!

Very exciting! And did you know, you can now shop online for all your Stampin' Up! products. Just go to my website and click the Shop Now button!

The other exciting news is that today is my second last day at my "other" job! As of next week (after Easter) I will be running my stamping business full time! I am very excited about this and am really looking forward to catching up with more of you, more often in stamping land!

Would love to hear your thoughts on My Digital Studio (MDS) after you've had a chance to browse the website, so please leave a comment here or send me an email to let me know what you think!

Email : kathryn@katlodesigns.com

See you soon!

For the Record . . .

2013-03-24T22:44:45+11:00

Hey everyone, long time no see! I bet you thought I had dropped off the planet!

Just another busy couple of weeks in the life of the Ruddick family. Lots of exciting stamping activities going on, from the BIG craft show at the start of the month, to our team "Share What You Love" Event, a couple of lovely workshops - boy do I like my time out with my stamping friends!!

This week I have SO much to share with you!!

Let's start with the "For the Record" Simply Scrappin' Layout Kit on page 9 of our current Seasonal Catalogue.

Have you even noticed this kit?

The description in the catalogue reads : "Record precious moments - without a lot of fuss. Everthing you need for the two-page spread. Instructions included. Copy the layout or personalise. Acid & Lignin-free."

I made two full 12x12 layouts with the kit with tonnes of leftovers for more layouts. I personalised it to suit the photos I had and added elements to tie it altogether.

The printed papers and banners all come in the kit with the adhesive, card-stock quality banners all pre-cut.

I added half a dozen stamped images - like the happy day stamp from the Sale-a-bration set Petite Pretties, and that adorable elephant from the gigantic stamp set "A Fitting Occasion".

There's a journalling pocket behind the photos, more stamps from Pretty Petites and A Fitting Occasion stamp sets, a small square of paper from the "Storytime" Designer Series Paper Pack and a stamped subtitle using the absolutely gorgeous and much loved "Notable" Alphabet stamp set.

I normally would probably baulk at paying $16.95 for a kit which only makes two 12x12" layouts, but in this kit, the pieces are so versatile and so easy to add to, that you could easily complete 4-5 layouts using the pieces with a few extras out of your colour co-ordinated Stampin' Up! products.

It took me only about two hours to do this layout and another completely different one using most of the same components - I love it!

If you have "first day at school" photos you haven't scrapped yet, now's the time!! Email me today to order your own For The Record Simply Scrappin' Layout Kit, so you can record those precious memories in no time and get your albums a bit more up to date, and your treasured memories saved in hardcopy forever!

Email Kathryn@katlodesigns.com

For the Record Simply Scrappin' Kit, $16.95 + postage delivered to your door in 4-5 working days via Australia Post from our Sydney warehouse.

Share What You Love!

2013-03-09T15:46:37+11:00

Ever thought about joining the Stampin' Up! family? Come along to this fun, free event next Saturday to find out what we do, how we do it, and why we love it!

Please RSVP to kathryn@katlodesigns.com

Stampin' Up! Grand Holiday 2013

2013-03-07T16:29:20+11:00

Hi Folks,

Well what an exciting week it has been in Stampin' Up! land! Several of my stamping friends and I have had a goal this Stampin' Up! year of qualifying for the Stampin' Up! Annual Incentive Trip (now named Grand Holiday), and over the past week, several more of us have reached our goal, achieving enough points to take our partners on this once in a lifetime trip.

This year Stampin' Up! are taking us to Utah, USA for our Grand Holiday. We'll be staying at the very beautiful St Regis Deer Valley Resort at Park City and have the chance to visit the Stampin' Up! home office in Riverton and the manufacturing plant at Kanab!

I am one excited little vegemite!!

We'll also have the opportunity to attend the 25th Anniversary Stampin' Up! Convention in Salt Lake City! I think our South Pacific Conventions are totally awesome, I can't wait to see how huge and amazing the US convention is! Better stock up in the flat shoe department before July!

I am so grateful to be part of an organisation that rewards it's hard workers with such an exciting opportunity and I can't wait to join dozens of my lovely stamping friends - including some that I only know through Facebook and haven't even met in person yet! It's such an honour and a privilege!

But before I even start packing, I need to thank all the lovely people who helped to get me there! Anyone who hosted a workshop, attended a class, placed an order or purchased a kit, my lovely stamp club ladies. You all contributed to me achieving this goal. Thank you!

Then there is my wonderful team the Aussie Inkpressionists, which has grown to 31. Your hard work in recruiting and promoting these past twelve months is a credit to you and is reflected in our teams growth. We have more than doubled in the last 12 months. Well done on a fine effort!

Then of course there are the behind the scenes supporters. My sister the chef, who came and did a stamping with food night for us, my friends who keep inviting me to have a table at their fundraising events, family & friends who always say the nicest things when they get a handmade card.

And last but not least, my number one supporter, Tony, who's patience and great marketing experience and business ideas over the past 5 years have definitely earned him a place on this trip too! I hope you enjoy every minute of it my lovely husband, you deserve to be spoiled by Stampin' Up! too!

Now there HAS to be a sales pitch at the bottom of such a post, so I am just going to say, if I can achieve this, whilst working mostly fulltime, a long way from home, then you can achieve this too!!

The year 2014 Grand Holiday is a Caribbean Cruise on Allure of the Seas.

Talk to me today about what you would need to do to come on an amazing holiday, paid for by Stampin' Up! Our Sale-a-bration Starter Kit special is on only until the 22nd March. Don't wait, call me today!