Monday, March 17, 2008

All the fun details about the FIRST EVER Fiskars Easter Eggtranaganza in South Australia

Okay...Hello all... I am back to report on the wonderful things that happened at our special day...This is a long post... but I assure you it will be worth the read...

I would like to firstly start by thanking Fiskars Melbourne Head Office and Lyn especially, for all their support and hard work to help me get this event happening... considering it was just a dream a couple of months ago and I was lucky enough to have been able to achieve such an amazing thing...

The best way I can describe the build up to the day and the day itself would be that it was like watching a child grow and develop... if that makes sense... okay I am probably getting carried away.. but for me this day was very important...I love to scrapbook and love teaching others.. I am very passionate about the Fiskars range so for me this day was a combination of all that I love...I felt very proud to have been allowed to hold such a day and it was very satisfying for all involved.

Okay ... I know... enough of the deep and meaningful stuff at this time of the morning...
So... the day started with many eager scrappers arriving early as they were all so excited... so of which had driven for an hour or more to get here..I was so pleased to see that everyone had already arrived by the time I had planned to start...As they had arrived I asked them to write up their name tags and we chatted briefly about Fiskars... Once we were all settled the day started off with a fun and intense game of Bingo....I have never seen such a quiet room as everyone concentrated so hard... When I handed out the Bingo prize to the winner, she was kind enough to hand all her goodies around for all to see...She was also soooo happy with the prizes she received.

Next we had a chat about Fiskars and some of the tool that are on the market.. The ladies loved being able to have a go themselves and see how the tool actually worked.. Before going into our first project for the day we had morning tea...I must say that the homemade cupcakes with passionfruit icing and chocolate icing certainly went down a treat... plus the chocolate chip cookies we absolutely divine... maybe I am a little bias.. but I do know that at the end of the day the plates were very empty...

Our first project was an Altered CD Album.... the ladies were a little shocked that they were able to complete something that looked so hard so easily once they were shown how... the Heidi Grace rub ons went down a treat as everyone loved how well they worked compared to some on the market. Once the albums were finished there was many talking about making more in the next few weeks for presents as they loved making them... shopping lists were also started as to what Heidi Grace and Fiskars products they need to get this week...

No one seemed to want to stop for lunch as I had to call them several times... they were so eager to keep going... so after a quick break for lunch we started on the next projects...Cards....Before we started I showed them the cards and they were all excited that we were making so many...plus they absolutely adored the aper ranges that we were going to be working with...
With each card they learned a new technique and also learnt a bit more about the different tools we used. Yet again the shopping lists grew and I could see some very excited ladies in my midst.

To understand what I mean a little better... most of the ladies that came to the crop day were beginners or had been doing it for only a little while... they had also all come to my demonstrations at Spotlight stores here in Adelaide and were so excited about being able to find out more about the products that some had hunted me down.

The day I feel was a huge success... I had an absolutely amazing time sharing this day with some very amazing ladies. They were all so eager to learn and have a laugh at the same time. It was a real pleasure to teach them.

We were suppose to end the day at 5pm though we were still going at 6.15pm...It was such a fun day that no one wanted to leave... and I was in no hurry either..We go so carried away with the day that I didn't even get a chance to draw the lucky draw prize... I have have put all the names in a bowl and will get my son to draw the prize now......

So here goes......

the winner is....
....
...
..
Pat....YEAH.... Congratulations.... I will get your prize into the mail for you shortly...
It was a truly magical day with everyone asking when they can come again... Everyone left armed with their completed goodies...chocolate goodie bags and huge shopping lists of things to buy next time they visit the shops...lol...lol...

Here is a copy of the email I received this morning...

Dear Michelle,
I know you are sending us the evaluation sheet but had to tell you how very much i enjoyed the day - in fact the three of us on the way home to Salisbury talked about how great the day was and how much more confident we feel about using some of the tools now.
You made the day great and made us very welcome and at home, thanks for sharing all this with us. Keep us on you mailing list pleeeeease.
Warm wishes Mary x


Thanks to all that can along to share this day with me... you are all very amazing people and were a real pleasure to teach. I do look forward to catching up in the next few months, as I plan to continue to build on where we have started with Fiskars in South Australia..
I will finish off today with some photos of the day for all to see... I still need to get the group photos from another camera on the weekend as we didn't have the cable to get them... will share them later...





Cheers and thanks for looking...M x

BTW>>> Kerryn.... if you would like to email me you address you were the lucky winner of a card pack for correctly guessing the Altered CD Album....thanks for that.... Congrats too....
mlwallace@internode.on.net

Friday, March 14, 2008

Woo Hoo.... the day is almost here

Well..it's only one more sleep... it feels like it is almost Christmas here with all this excitement... I am soooo excited, but must admit I am feeling very tired too... The heat here in Adelaide has been crazy and my kids just don't cope well with being stuck inside that is for sure... I have managed despite this to get everything all sort and ready to go for tomorrow... if you are reading this and wondering what I am rambling about then I will fill you all in a little bit....
Tomorrow here in Adelaide we are having our first Fiskars Easter Eggstravaganza Crop... I am just so excited to be hosting this...I have got 16 lovely people coming tomorrow, all that are looking forward to playing with the latest Fiskars tools... and seeing some of the exciting ranges of paper we have to play with...

So the secrets that I have let out so far are... that we are going to be eating. chocolate... chocolate and more chocolate... especially my famous rich chocolate fudge sauce....mmmm.mmmm... currently sitting on my stove all ready to go at the moment....another secret is that we will be using the Love Blossoms and Cherry wood Lane paper ranges from Heidi Grace to make six cards....The last secret that was released was the secret that Cindy guessed correctly ... we will be making an Altered CD Album using the Orchard paper range from Heidi Grace....So... what else could we possibly be getting up to... well you will have to check back in Sunday when I will post pictures of the crop and all the fun that we will be getting up to.... I can say that we do have a lucky door prize...a game of bingo happening...and soooo many yummy cupcakes and easter eggs to eat that we will all roll home for sure.

Well I had better finish it off here for the night as I am so tired...but good excitement tired if you know what I mean..... Look forward to filling you in on more about the big event on Sunday... where I might even have a few kits to give away to some lucky readers.... remember to call back in on Sunday to find out more...
Cheers and happy scrapping...
Michelle


BTW... here a few pictures of the goodie bags that I had laid out on my lounge floor when I was packing them up later this afternoon.... think these will certainly go down a treat.....


Wednesday, March 12, 2008

It's all about the little things...

This year is my son started preschool..He has been lucky enough that quite a few of his friends from where he went to childcare previously attend the same preschool and that they will also be attending the same school. Most of these friends he has know since he was 6 weeks old so they are really dear to him. Nate is a personable child and very affectionate... so what you ask has this got to do with Easter...lol...lol... I was getting to it I promise.

This year Nate finally understands easter and what it is about...so this year he asked me if he was able to give his friends at preschool something for Easter. Knowing me he even asked if I could scrapbook something... so with having 16 little friends to scapbook for and knowing that kids love chocolate I have kept it very simple though I think they are quite cute.

I have so much Heidi Grace paper sitting around the place so I decided to go with the "Inspire Me" paper range as to me it feels very much like Spring.. plus it was also nice and bright and my son Loved the colours.

So here they are all ready to go... I finished them off with the new Heidi Grace range of clear stamps using the " For You" from the "Tags and Words" clear stamp set. We added the Chocolate easter eggs in little snap lock bags while I stapled to the pocket before closing it over with a gold brad. Nice and simple and so easy to make ... great when you have heap to make for kids. Next task.... making some for my eldest daughter for her friends...






Thanks for looking...if you interested in the instructions feel free to post a comment with your email and I will forward them to you.

Cheers Mx

Just a quick one tonight from me....

Well.... today has been an absolute scorcher here... the weather in Adelaide has been so hot at the moment that I am sooooo grateful we put in refrigerated air conditioning..... that was lucky too with all the chocolate I have sitting around the house.....
Okay... so things are going along so nicely with the plans for the South Australian Fiskars Eggstravaganza Crop here that I have all the kits ready to go... They still need to be making it into their little bags.. but they are all precut and sorted with their embellishments.... My studio at the moment looks like it have been overcome with Fiskars to the extreme with all the goodies that are here....Some really amazing prizes too for the day.... some chocolates.... a brand new trimmer.... ooooppppsss..... I have let something else slip..... just can't keep the secrets in can I...
Well... I am going to keep the other little project a secret for just one more day.... keep you in suspense just a little bit longer... I will say though that it will involve using the Orchard paper range from Heidi Grace....AND... that is is an Off The Page item....mmmm.... wonder what that could be....if you had read previous posts you might know what it is......If you do know what else we are making post a comment and I will send you one of the kits to play with.... but it will be the first person to do so.... so what are you waiting for.....
Okay... I will leave you however with a couple of picture showing you the cards we are making.... but not too close mind you.... can't let it all out...



Cheers till tomorrow.... don't forget to leave a comment to win yourself a kit from the day.....
Michelle :)


Tuesday, March 11, 2008

More Secrets Revealed Here In South Australia....





















So... here we are again.... I know that some of you are eager to find out a bit more about the South Australian Fiskars Eggstravaganza Crop that is happening here in 4 DAYS time.... wooo hooo..... it is coming closer..... I just can't wait..... so many suprises and so much fun too....
Okay... yes... once again I am bursting with excitement and I just can't hold this in any longer.... have been wanting to tell you all ALL day....
So....
....
....
Above is a sneak peek at some of the cards we are making on the day.....
Well.... that's enough for tonight.... don't forget to check in tomorrow to find out how you could win one of the kits from the day....plus to find out about the other exciting things we will be up to....
I'm off to have my dinner now....better late than never....

Cheers and happy scrapping, M x




Monday, March 10, 2008

So many secrets and so little time.....

Okay... I am just so excited here in South Australia at the moment that I think I might burst.....

I have been really busy here the last week or so, finalising things for the FIRST EVER FISKARS EGGSTRAVAGANZA CROP here in ADELAIDE...

I am sooooooo excited about this that I can barely hold back all the exciting things that are happening here in 5 DAYS.....

YES.....it is so hard to believe that after all the mad preparations between myself and the ever helpful Lead Ambassador, Lyn Dwyer... ****sending her many thanks**** that we are almost there. I think that the most exciting thing for me, is being able to host the FIRST EVER FISKARS EGGSTRAVAGANZA CROP in Adelaide..

I am loving being able to share the Fiskars products with others and being able to show people exactly how they work.....

Okay..... I know I am probably keeping you all waiting.. wondering what exciting things that we will be up to at our crop....

Over the next few days leading up to the crop I will be giving out sneak peeks at the amazing things we will be getting up to. I will also be giving away to two lucky readers one of the kits from the day...but you will have to check back throughout the rest of the week to find out how to win on of the kits....

So... for today's secret that I just can't hold in any longer...... the day will of course be filled with chocolate...being so close to Easter.... mmmmmm Chocolate Cake with my favourite Rich Chocolate Fudge Sauce.... what a way to end the day !....that's what I think anyway....

I am well know for my Chocolate Fudge Sauce... so I just had to share it with my fellow Fiskars friends....

Here is the recipe:

Rich Chocolate Fudge Sauce
375 grams quality chocolate
300 mls condensed milk
250 grams butter....yes the real stuff is needed...
Melt the butter and chocolate together on low heat. Once melted mix in the condensed milk. Stir until well combined and thick. Allow to cool and serve. Can be refridgerated once cool. Keeps for 1 month in the fridge.

I must say though that this sauce NEVER makes it to the fridge at our house. We eat it with warm chocolate cake and ice cream while the sauce it warm....and it ALL gets eaten...Yes... we are very naughty here I know....

SSSSSSHHHHHH...... can't help myself....it's tooooo exciting to hold it in anymore.... here is the paper that we're going to be playing with.....

Heidi Grace - Cherrywood Lane
Heidi Grace - Orchard
Heidi Grace - Love Blossoms

Okay.... I had better go before I let anymore secrets out of the bag..... check back in tomorrow to find out some more juicy secrets about the FIRST EVER FISKARS EGGSTRAVAGANZA CROP.....

Cheers and happy scrapping,
Michelle