Australia Day at stamp club!

On Australia Day, we celebrated by having our first meeting of SERS for the year.

Smallish group (well, it was a long weekend) but we didn't mind. Louise brought some text books for my kids to use this year. we discussed driving lessons and Nerf guns.

Maria told us about her latest travels in Poland. Apparently, she was caught acting like the paparazzi - little did they know, she really WAS just photographing the building. How was she to know there was a film festival going on?

I made Aussie gingerbread ladies. And coloured in an Aussie stamp, from Kaisercraft. They have a new 'concept' shop at Chadstone - it's pretty, you should go and see it.

Next meeting is 23 February. That day, there will also be a big sale at Pedigree Paper. http://www.kwdoggett.com.au/pedigree-paper/ They are not normally open on Saturdays, but this time they are. Pedigree always have terrific stuff.

SERS is on again for 2013

For the umpteenth year in a row, allow me to invite you to have a SERS year. Why not make it your goal to come to some or all of our meetings? Or just to keep in touch? Anyway, it's not my place to tell you what to do, it's not that kind of club.

What it is, is a free space to make things! Once a month, big, clean tables, four solid hours, and snacks laid on. What could be better?

First SERS for this year is Saturday 26 January. All the details are on this blog. We love the venue, we're not moving unless they make us.

And here's a little construction card I made for Christmas. It's a game, see. The goal is to put the hat ... on the bunny. The recipient found a message inside, telling him that if he got a high score in "PTHONB", he'd win a prize. Which was a cool teenager-oriented Christmas present. And he DID Put the Hat on the Bunny. A lot. And won the prize.

Merry Christmas from SERS!

Cathy (on right, with Anne) invited us into her home again for the SERS Christmas party for 2012.

Cathy's home is her work space and art studio too, so it's always a pleasure to be amongst the beautiful things.

We exchanged ornaments, an almost-every-year tradition since we first did it.

That little angel was made by Michelle. Her pretty translucent wings are made from the bag inside the cereal box. We love this!

This is what Michelle took home - awwww! Made by Louise (I think).

This is what I took home - thanks Cathy, it's on my tree! Look, a picture of ME on the SERS blog, that's rare.

And here's a look at the tiniest tree - a little flower pot I was decorating with flowers - with my cool ornament hanging on it.



We had yummy food too - Cathy's Melktart (South African style Milk Tart) was a highlight. Here's a recipe. I went back for more of Anne's Swedish cookies too.

Have a terrific holiday season, everyone, and see you all back at SERS on 26 January (yes, that's Australia Day).

November meeting coming up

Our next meeting is coming! Its saturday 24 November.

This photo shows a slice of amazing Malaysian cake that my workmate brought in. Also a cool colour scheme for a card - think you could pull it off?

Christmas Party 2012

Well, I've organised the Christmas party. It was a long, hard slog, but I finally

• sent a message to Cathy
• asked if it was OK to have it at her place
• she said YES!
•  and so I've finished organising.

So here's the details:

It's on 8 December 2012, at 1pm, and the location is Cathy's place. That's a private address, of course, but I can pass it on to you privately if you don't know it. Of course any SERS-goer is welcome.

We'll bring a plate of food, anything you like to bring, don't get carried away, we don't eat that much!

We'll have an ornament swap - we've done this in the past. Make an ornament, using any crafty skills you like, and everyone will go home with something new to decorate their home. I know my tree has a number of  SERS made decorations, and I do appreciate them!

As usual, if you have no time/no energy for an ornament swap, or don't know what to make, or don't even celebrate Christmas, just relax and come and socialise anyway. We always get up to some kind of mischief at Cathy's - one year we raided her old stamp catalogues for a trip down memory lane, and another year we watched a TV show about chocolate that she had saved specially!

Some people bring gifts or cards, and that's lovely, and some don't, and that's fine. I think a gift to the hostess to say thanks for offering her home is always good manners, if you can manage it.

So, does that sound fun? See you there!

September Meeting - Oh My!

Our last meeting was a most unusual one! We had some selling going on - not the usual one or two boxes, but four TABLES laden with top quality stamps. You can learn more about THAT project on the dedicated blog http://greatsouthernstampsale.blogspot.com.au/.

I bought heaps of stamps. That should keep me busy for, oh, weeks.

Joan came along, cos SHE'S needing more stamps. She invested in the big alphabet.
















Jenny's having a good browse here...


















And I brought carrot cake!

Ellen brought some of her gorgeous samples - I bought up this stamp!

One of Ellen's amazing construction cards, using the well-known Iris stamp.

Another fab Ellen sample ... I do believe I bought that stamp too...

And then we settled in for a pretty normal meeting.













Did you see I was collecting money for Hanover (who provide services to homeless people) through selling some markers and magazines? See the results here . We ended up with $110 in the box, and I donated it all. And the gold coins I badgered you for at the door - they went to paying the rent as usual.

The Great Southern Stamp Sale

Well, I've been hinting about a great event coming up, and here's the details! SERS has been approached by no lesser stamper than Ellen Eadie, to help her sell much of her magnificent stamp collection. As you may know, she has an extensive collection of PSX stamps. I mean extensive!

I'm so excited, I've set up a special blog just for the sale, so we can share this event with lots of stampers.

The link to go to is :

http://greatsouthernstampsale.blogspot.com.au/

So be a love and pass that on to stampers you know, and any other clubs or groups that would love to be involved.

The picture here shows something I coloured in with one of my own PSX stamps. I'm going to add photos of the sale stamps shortly.

So, our September 29 meeting will be extra exciting! Yes, there will still be snacks.