Jared’s 11th Birthday Party

Posted on June 18, 2013 by admin

So….a quick flick through some photos on my computer and I’ve realised a whole month has passed since we celebrated Jared’s 11th birthday and I still haven’t added some photos from his party. Time just seems to move at lightning speed these days!

In fact it is hard to believe how fast the past 11 years have flown by

My ELEVEN year old

(picking out some music while he waited for guests to arrive)

I created his invitations using My Digital Studio. (You can download a free trial of this super program here)

The evening consisted of lots of music, lots of loud laughing and chatter, silly photos, dancing and happy faces!

I kept the “guest gifts” pretty simple. It was mainly 11 and 12 year old boys who attended and I wasn’t sure how well “lolly bags” would go down with that age group. Instead I covered chocolate bars in wrappers that I created in My Digital Studio and matched the design to the invitation.

I also purchased some large lolly-pops and kept the ‘decoration’ super simple.

My scallop circle punch is one of my ‘go to’ items especially for creating simple tags like thise above. Please check out this punch and other punches in my online store here

I would loved to have made some ‘novelty’ party food but instead kept things pretty simple to appeal to the pre-teen age group. The guests had savoury finger food, BBQ sausages in bread, pizza, soft drink, lollies and other nibblies. I couldn’t resist making one small tray of ninjabread men just for a bit of laugh.

The kids basically entertained themselves for the evening. It was nice to sit back and just watch the kids enjoy themselves. Most of the evening seemed to look like this….

The guests also had a bit of fun with our homemade “Photobooth”. I snapped lots of crazy shots. Here’s a small selection of shots…..

CAKE TIME!!!!

I purchased some novelty candles that kept lighting up again over and over that got quite a few laughs! Jared tells me his party was “Seriously epic”

Phew- and that’s our household’s birthdays over for another year!

Retiring Items- Something for Everyone :-)

Posted on June 4, 2013 by admin

It is only a month before the new catalogue is officially released! Although that is incredibly exciting- it also means that we will see a lot of gorgeous products retiring from the current catalogue

Click here to view the list of retiring stamp sets

Click here to view the list of retiring accessories

Please contact me if there is anything you would like to order before it is SOLD OUT. Alternatively you may wish to shop online through my store (This is a great way to view all of the retiring products)

Stampin’ Up! Convention 2013

Posted on June 4, 2013 by admin

It is hard to believe that it has been a week since I’ve returned from the Stampin’ Up! Convention in Brisbane. I had such a lovely time. There is nothing quite like being in the company of like-minded people enjoying what Stampin’ Up! has to offer. A week of cocktails and evenings out for dinner and great company instead of the school run and endless piles of washing is always a bonus too!

I arrived in Brisbane at what would have been 3am WA time and I got no more than 1 hour’s sleep on the plane after a journey that started at lunchtime the day before. Fortunately there was lots of fun and inspiring stuff to keep me (mostly) awake for the day at our Leadership sessions. On that first evening we had a special Manager’s Reception where we were treated to an absolutely divine meal and showered with lovely gifts. Most of all I just enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with lots of lovely friends

manager's reception 3_edited-1

(L-R Kathryn, Kylie, Claire, Genna, Me and Sue)

(I mentioned like-minded didn’t I?)

In the days that followed we had inspiring presentations, ’break-out classes’, opportunities to see NEW products up close, sessions in the main theatre, displays, memento mall, prize patrol (give aways) award presentations and even a live band and dancing at our ‘after party’. I received a Leadership award. It is always so lovely to congratulate other demonstrators on their awards too. We were rapt to see sneak peeks of new products and even got our hands on the brand new 2013-2014 Catalogue. (Don’t worry it won’t be long before I will be able to share it with my lovely customers and friends)

the stage

One of the highlights for me is seeing CEO and Co-Founder Shelli Gardner presenting on stage. I always love her warmth and inspiring projects. It is no wonder Stampin’ Up! has just moved from strength to strength in the past 25 years. I left Convention inspired to “Be the Difference”.

I’m already looking forward to catching up with everyone next year

(Claire Daly and Me)

awards night 2

(Miriam Thomas, Kylie Bertucci, Sue Madex)

If you are interested in being part of the family and joining my team- please be sure to let me know miriamthomas@westnet.com.au or 0419 947 047

Join my Team

Erin’s Cake and Icecream Birthday Party

Posted on May 7, 2013 by admin

In my last blog entry- I shared Adam’s Angry Birds Birthday Party . The day after Adam’s party we had a party for his twin, Erin. This was a GIRL ONLY EVENT! Even her 3 brothers had to spend some time outside with Dad while the girls enjoyed some crafty entertainment….much to their disgust! (Having said that all the boys- including Dad were allowed into the craft classroom after the party and were allowed to get creative too!)

Erin enjoyed the afternoon with a group of really lovely young ladies. They were beautifully behaved the entire time! What a gorgeous bunch!

Here is the invitation that went out to her guests (Created in “My Digital Studio”)

GETTING SPOILED ROTTEN!

A SNAPSHOT OF SOME OF THE DECORATIONS (Luke asked me why Dad and I hung up ‘lots of those things you use to wash yourself in the shower’….Hmmm I guess some of them looked a little like a ‘shower puff’)

The girls were invited into my ‘craft classroom’ (that I use for adult classes) for a bit of creative ‘girly time’.

Each guest made a bracelet, a little purse to carry the bracelet and an ice cream card.

They cut out the purses using a die and my Bigshot. Aren’t they cute!? The ice cream on the front of the card was cut out of the shapes on the petal cone die.

I’m pretty sure they all enjoyed themselves and they all did such a wonderful job!

We got so distracted that we ‘almost’ ran out of time for the party food. I had just enough time to throw the party food on the table before the parents arrived to collect their children. Please excuse the photos….it was my intention to make it look ‘pretty’ but in the end it was just placed on the table randomly and the sun was in an awkward position to take decent photos.

The main food was of course- Ice Cream! All the girls were able to make their own ice cream Sundaes. (I think a few were so ‘creative’ that they went home with a belly ache!) There were a variety of toppings to create their own ultimate Icecream Sundae! The other party food included cupcakes, sherbet cones, purple butterfly shaped biscuits, fairy floss, ice cream ‘cake pops’, marshmallows, popcorn, lolly teeth and other tasty treats!

THE CAKE

I must admit that I wasn’t entirely happy with how the cake turned out! I’m not one to make too much of a fuss of a birthday cake. I am normally one to just throw on some icing and lollies and hope for the best…..but I’m not sure I pulled it off this time! I just didn’t get the balance of colour right! I was hoping the chocolate on the icecream would be a deeper turquoise, the purple icing darkened over time and the pink wasn’t ‘pink enough’ (I used most of the food colouring on the red part of Adam’s cake the day before oops! ) At about 11pm I wasso disappointed that I was very close to starting up the oven to bake another cake and Jason convinced me that it would be crazt- reminding me that it only takes a moment to sing “Happy Birthday” and then the cake is cut into pieces! No-one seemed to mind that I didn’t bake another cake.

ERIN BLOWING OUT THE CANDLES ( I can’t believe she is NINE!)

THE AFTERMATH

Each guest took home the items they had made, a bag of lollies (decorated by Erin using retire Stampin’ Up! papers that matched her theme perfectly) plus a small wrapped gift containing a journal and shower gel, lotion etc all wrapped up with gorgeous Stampin’ Up! ribbon.

It is our final family birthday this month (All 6 birthdays are within a 6 week period) – I must give some serious thought to what I’m going to do for Jared’s birthday in about 9 days time!

Adam’s Angry Birds/ Gamer Birthday Party

Posted on May 3, 2013 by admin

Sincere apologies for my lack of blog entries lately. As always, it can be tricky balancing blogging with living life. April is a busy time in our household with lots of birthdays including our twins who turned 9 years old on Sunday 28th April. They each had a party with their friends and also a family BBQ. As their birthday fell in the WA school holidays they got to celebrate with friends a little early. Here are some snapshots of Adam’s Angry Birds/ Gamer Birthday party.

Firstly the invitation. I created Adam’s invitation using MY DIGITAL STUDIO which is a Stampin’ Up! product for creating digital projects.

If you would like to try out this product- You can download a free trial from my online store. Just click on the button that says ‘shop now’. The full version is only $24.95 and includes lots of great content. Try it out and let me know what you think!

Anyway- back to the birthday party. I didn’t use a lot of Stampin’ Up! products for Adam’s decorations but I can assure you that my Stampin’ Up! PAPER SNIPS got a good workout (It is great that my kids are now at an age where they are lots of help with the party preparations! Thanks for your help with all of the cutting!)

THE DECORATIONS

OPENING THE GIFTS….with a little bit of ‘assistance’. Thanks so much to the party guests for all of the lovely gifts for Adam!

ENTERTAINMENT

The entertainment included an ‘off screen Angry Birds Game”- complete with a slingshot. Erin blew up and tied lots of green balloons and Jared drew bad piggies faces faces on them

We also had a game where we popped “Goomba” balloons”, a Mario pinata and “Pin the moustache on Mario” Game

TIME to “PIG OUT!”

(The labels for the food items were cut out using my Bigshot using the Petal cone die and Apothecary Accents Framelits)

TIME FOR CAKE

and finally……the PARTY FAVOURS

Call me crazy but I love all of the birthday party preparation. I was even crazy enough to hold a party for Erin the following day. Stay tuned for pictures!

Join my team!

Posted on March 31, 2013 by admin

Only hours remain to take advantage of the extra 25% off the starter kit. For only $169 you can select $294 worth of Stampin’ Up! products PLUS you get a business kit with catalogues and order forms and so forth…..and just for good measure for anyone who takes up my offer to join my team on this last day of the promotion then I will throw in a ‘welcome gift’ of $40 worth of products of your choice. You can read more about it on the ‘join my team’ page which includes the link to signing up online. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions! http://www.creationsbymiriam.com/?page_id=368

Join my team! :-)

Posted on March 28, 2013 by admin

Were you one of the people who considered joining my team? You might be interested to know that the he ‘special’ has been continued until the end of March. For only $169 you can join my team and select $294 worth of merchandise in your starter kit. Please let me know if you have any questions. You can also find more information if you click on the tab at the top that says “Join my team” Here’s the online link for signing up…..

https://ida.stampinup.com/?demoid=4002174

Exciting news!

Posted on March 26, 2013 by admin

NEWSFLASH- ONLINE ORDERING

I’m thrilled to let you know that I can now offer ONLINE ORDERING. Any time you would like to place an order you can simply visit my blog and click on the button that says “Shop now” This will take you to a page where you can place your own orders online. Of course, you are still more than welcome to contact me the traditional way and I can lodge your orders on your behalf but it is such a handy little option for you. You are still eligible for stampin’ rewards when you reach at least $300 when ordering.

MY DIGITAL STUDIO

In other exciting news- we now have “My Digital Studio”. This is a great option for those who enjoy creating on their computers. I am still finding my way around this new option and you can too- with MDS trial for FREE (30 day free trial)

Pinwheels and class dates

Posted on March 24, 2013 by admin

Have you seen the gorgeous pinwheel die on page 33 of the Seasonal catalogue? I think it is adorable and used it for the following card. I’ve also used the cloudy day embossing folder in the background as well as the needlepoint border embossing folder!

The sentiment on this card comes from the “Delightful dozen” stamp set (page 141 of the annual catalogue)

This card was one that we made at a cardmaking class last month. I’ve got more classes coming up in the next couple of months. Why not consider booking into some of them? Everything is supplied and the cards are designed for you so you can come along and learn some new techniques or try out something new!

SATURDAY 6th APRIL-
Cardmaking Class (Various occasions) RSVP: by 2nd April

SATURDAY 20th APRIL-
Scrapbooking class RSVP: by 16th April

TUESDAY 23rd APRIL-
Cardmaking class (Various occasions) RSVP: by 19th April

SATURDAY 27th APRIL
Cardmaking class (will include a Mother’s Day Card)RSVP: by 23rd April

SATURDAY 4th MAY
Scrapbooking Class RSVP: by 30th April

TUESDAY 7th MAY
Daytime Cardmaking Class (10am) RSVP: by 3rd May

More details will be found on my facebook page as each date approaches, however you are invited to begin booking your spots by E-mail of phone. All classes will be 7.15pm for a 7.30pm start except for the Daytime class 10am Tuesday 7th May. All classes will cost $25 and all tools and materials will be supplied. (There is also the option to spend $125 on merchandise on the night and you can attend the class for FREE) Tea, coffee and a light snack will be offered.
RSVPs are essential as I need to ensure I have enough supplies and seating for all participants. Where possible, I ask that you RSVP as early as you are able, as I require adequate time to prepare materials for all participants. Can I please request that if you book a spot and can no longer attend that you contact me at your earliest convenience as this may allow me to offer the spot to people on my waiting list.

All occasion card

Posted on March 13, 2013 by admin

I just love how butterflies just add a little piece of elegance to a card. For more details about any of the products I’ve used on this card please be sure to get in touch

SUPPLIES:

Stamp sets: En Francais (pg 129), Papillon Potpourri (pg 115)

Bigshot Dies: Apothecary Accent Framelits (pg 191), Fancy Fan Embossing Folder (pg 189)

Punch: Elegant Butterfly Punch (pg 184)

Extras: Paper Doilies (pg 5 of the mini catalogue) Rhinestone Jewels (pg 175)

Creations by Miriam

Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator and Mum to Four

Category Archives: Uncategorized