February meeting - the hot, hot day!

The February SERS meeting took place on a super hot day - 37 degrees! People asked if we would go ahead in the heat, but I said yes.

Turned out, the meeting room at Mount St is lovely and cool on a hot day (the hallway was quite hot, but the room itself was fine). We turned on all the fans, and it was great. So, let's remember, SERS can cope with heat any time!

I knew nobody would want heavy snacks, though, so I packed delicious fruit and chilled drinks, along with the usual tea and coffee. Here's the three bottles with stamped tags - water, iced tea, and lemon lime and bitters. Yumm!
















Ingrid was doing beautiful work with a small watercolour painting she had done - a bunch of kumquats. Dare I say it, better than any stamp!















Liz Z came along - hadn't seen her in yonks! She's on the left, next to Cathy. Liz was working on a drawing, and Cathy was refurbishing an older African doll, and using it as inspiration for a new one.











Louise and Maria making things - Maria and I agreed that if you can only have one punch, you should have a couple of square ones.

And here's a distinguished visitor, Miriam Makeba, appearing in doll form. She's Cathy's entry in a doll swap, about to be sent away to a new owner.

So what WAS in the box?

 We just had the January SERS meeting, and as well as a fun afternoon of chatting and crafting, there were GOODIES to be had!

A generous benefactor had donated some back copies of magazines, good ones from Stampington (and don't we all know that publisher well!). Five boxes full, in fact. She instructed that they should be given away to willing readers. So that's what I did.

I opened the boxes and called the ladies over. There was no pushing or shoving, but everyone ended up with an armful of excellent magazines. Here's Pat flipping through a Take Ten.

And here's the whole gang in a not-at-all-posed scene, enjoying their new bounty.

Did you miss the meeting? Don't worry, there's still some stuff in the box! I'll bring it next time.

Welcome to 2012 - what's in the box?

It's a new year for SERS, and we are ready for the January meeting. Well, I am. Three teenagers at home getting a bit tired of holidays - of course I want an afternoon out!

Actually it's been a fantastic month full of swimming, bike riding, movies, creativity and food! So the batteries are all charged for another stamping hit.

And the next SERS meeting is THIS WEEKEND, 28 January 2012, at the usual location (see this - our details haven't changed).

So I ask you, WHAT is in the BOX?  I have five of these boxes at home, and the contents (thanks to a generous benefactor) are going to be up for grabs. That's right, I'm totally letting you take stuff out and take it home.

Anyway, see you at SERS, and don't forget to wear your stamping shoes!

Merry Christmas from SERS!

We just had the SERS Christmas party for 2011 - at Cathy's place, as is traditional.

Cathy has this FABulous canvas at her place - she made it, of course. A fun afternoon with a packet of crayons, some glue, and a hair dryer!

Louise, Cathy and Nan shared a chat - Nan had a terrific anecdote about when she almost met Rudolf Nureyev!

 Michelle and Chris did Christmassy projects and had some laughs...

Thanks Cathy for hosting us!

Anne made us all pretty gift boxes with treats inside!


















We did our mostly annual Ornament Swap - Nan took home a beaded ornament by Louise.

Christmas party coming up!

As we have for the last few years, we have a Christmas party coming up. It's on 10 December at 1pm, at Cathy's place, same as last year. Ask if you need the address!

We've decided to have an ornament swap. It's something we did in past years, and it was fun!

So make an ornament (yes, MAKE) using whatever method you like. No, we're not going to fuss about it needing stamping in it - if you're in a beading mood, go for it! And seriously, if life is too stressful right now, don't let lack of an ornament stop you coming.

No idea yet what I will make, but there's days yet!

The other special thing to bring is a plate of something to share.

We like our party to be an arty party, and Cathy's house is at least half art studio (at least it is when we all arrive), so bring a project to do - I'm finishing my Christmas cards there.

And if you read this, be a love and pass the info on to any other local stampers who look like they'd enjoy an afternoon of gossip and giggles!

Oh, and that photo is my cute kids (back when they were cute).

November meeting!

November meeting, and Anne gets into the Christmas mood by creating some elegant Christmas cards...





















Gail came along with Siobhan for a little mother-daughter time...















and my snacky treat was orange and almond cupcakes. Yummo!

Big news too ... the Christmas party is on! We've set the date at 10 December, at Cathy's place. Details in the next post!

October Meeting

We just had our October meeting - fun as usual, of course. As usual, nothing special organised. Well, I did make snacks (nobody was very hungry - either it's the weather, or my special herby cream cheese sandwich filling isn't everyones favourite - well, it looked nice).

Pat had partly finished this pretty card using her old paper tole pictures - very pretty! She was adding various pretty embellishments.

Maria had decorated stickers (yes, blank stickers, the kind you print addresses on) with various paint finishes, and was using them for mosaics.

 Anne was experimenting with various ways of combining inking and embossing, and making pretty Christmas treat boxes.

Cathy was cutting up a - what, a Coke can? Why?

Ah, it's the body for an angel! Nice!

And I was decorating a plain torso that Cathy made - so far she's got underwear and some fancy additions... If you want a plaster torso to decorate. go to My Stamps - this is an original design, very smart, and highly suitable for you to add to. So there's a plug for a local creative business.

And here's those snacks I was telling you about - puzzle sandwiches, made with The Lunch Punch, a cool sandwich cutter, invented by a Melbourne mum, and sold all over the world (there's an unsolicited plug for a nice creative product).










Oh, and here's some of us.
















And finally ....


the Terror of Stamp Club ....


that makes grown women shriek ...

There was a medium sized spider in the hallway. Certain stampers wouldn't use that hallway (good thing there's two ways out of the room!).