Atelier avec Colette et Rolande hier.

Colette and Rolande asked me to help them with their presents for their Christmas table, we made the Santa and Snowman gift boxes which I showed you a few weeks ago but this time they were looking for something to please the adults.

I saw this type of box on splitcoaststampers and on a few US blogs last week and they loved it so we set to work. They made 2 yesterday afternoon but left with all the bits and pieces to make another 11, they have some work to do but I'm sure their Christmas table will look good! I must ask them to take a picture of their deco when it's finished.

Meeting Jenny at Convention.

Yet another highlight from Convention! On the Friday morning when we were milling about in the recption area I had a tap on the shoulder and a tentative 'Are you Moira'? It was Jenny (Stamping moments) who I 've been writing to via e-mail for at least 6 months. She really spoiled me with my favourite UK recipe magazine, a jar of Dorset honey, a fridge magnet and a beautiful easel card she made which I have displayed in my room. I wish we could have had time to chat some more but never mind, Jenny is going to Monaco next June with me so we can spend some more time together then.
My present to Jenny was some of my chocolate and coconut truffles and she said her husband loved them and she had to have the recipe. So here it goes, in French and in English beacuse I'm always being asked to copy this recipe out for people!

Ingrédients :
100 g de beurre butter
50 g de noix de coco râpé dessicated coconut
100 g de chocolat Cadburys drinking chocolates en poudre (comptoir irlandais) Cadbury's drinking chocolate
1 boîte de 400 g de lait concentré sucré Nestlés condensed milk
22 gâteaux écrasés (McVities digestives au comptoir irlandais ou à
intermarché) Digestives (which you then crush)

Faire fondre le beurre, ajouter 50 g de noix de coco, le chocolat en
poudre et le lait concentré sucré.Melt the butter, add 50g coconut, the drinking chocolate and the condensed milk.
Mélanger puis ajouter les miettes de gâteaux. Mix together then add the Digestives.
Laisser refroidir un peu, puis rouler en petites balles et rouler dans un
bol de noix de coco. Leave to cool then roll into small balls before then rolling in a bowl of coconut.
Mettre au frigo et même une partie au congélateur car ça en fait beaucoup (environ 50). Put the truffles in the fridge to harden a little, this recipe makes around 50 depending on how big you make them.They freeze very well and I tend to make a huge batch and try to persuade my boys to help with rolling them into balls!

Atelier chez Emilie dimanche!

I have certainly had a busy month of ateliers this month and although I love doing them I'm glad it's nearly mid December, I'm taking a 2 week break then for cooking and Christmas preparations.

On Sunday Emilie from ScrapAuvergne was my hostess and we made a little birthday book. I don't have a photo of the finished project because there were some finishing touches to be made and photos to be added. Emilie has promised to send me a photo when she's had time to complete it.

To thank Emilie for hosting the atelier I made her Jenny's Christmas cake box which I saw on UStamp. I used our Kraft cardstock and the snowflake from the 'sparkly and bright' stamp set with white ink to decorate the box. I filled it with white chocolate and cranberry cookies (yummy) and tied it all up with SU! gorgeous chocolate striped ribbon. I keep buying this ribbon for a ribbon share I'm planning on doing soon but end up using it and having to re-order! I didn't have time to make a co-ordinating tag for the box (because I was too busy baking cookies) and instead used a Christmas tree decoration I'd made the day before. The instructions were found here, instead of printed paper I coloured some of our 'bride' speciality paper with celery and burgundy ink.

I really enjoyed my afternoon and I was relieved that these 'experienced' scrapbooking girls seemed to enjoy the project. Tomorrow I'm at Michèle's house and I need to think of something to make her now............!

Will I be able to do it?

Walk 56km that is!!!!!!!!

My good friend Kelly roped me into doing this walk next Saturday night instead of an evening at an Indian restaurant previously organised (sorry to let you down Michaela). Anyway, lots of people have asked why we're doing it and I realised that I'd no idea what it stood for. I asked on ScrapAuvergne if anybody knew about it and Christine gave me this info! We walked 8km yesterday morning, it was a breeze but I'm sure we're going to be suffering after 7 times 8km (+1km)! Wish me luck!!!!!!!

La marche Roanne-Thiers est une marche historique née d’après une histoire banale datant du début du 20e siècle (légende ?).L’histoire voudrait que cette marche soit née d’un "pari" entre amis. En effet trois amis sont sortis d’un spectacle à Roanne vers minuit. L’un deux a proposé aux autres de venir boire l’apéritif chez lui. Or ce dernier habitait Thiers et l’apéritif doit se prendre avant midi. C’est ainsi qu’ils ont effectué le chemin Roanne-Thiers à pied en partant à minuit avec pour objectif d’arriver avant midi.La première édition a lieu en 1925. Elle est inauguré par Lucien Clairet et compte 3 participants.Le départ est donné le 1er samedi du mois de décembre à minuit pile. La course n’a pas du tout vocation de compétition. Le sens du parcours varie une année sur deux Au fil du temps de nouveaux parcours sont apparus...Cette marche nocturne est de 57 km Cette année, avec 4 parcours de 17 à 57 km, la 84ème édition de la marche nocturne aura lieu de Roanne à Thiers le samedi 5 décembre 2009.

Cards for cancer.

Well, the sale of cards for breast cancer research took place on Wednesday evening in the Holiday Inn at Clermont Ferrand. We sold an amazing 400 euros worth of cards, thank you to everyone who was so willing to donate to this worthy cause. I sold another 30 euros worth on Friday to my coffee morning group then this morning a further 70 euros to the IWC walking group. I'm left with 2 small boxes of cards which i'm sure I'll sell in the next couple of weeks.
I'm showing you a couple of photos of the cards all laid out for 'perusing' and a quick view of Kerry and Lesley choosing their packets before everyone else arrived.

These are some of the cards that I received from customers and demonstrators around about the time of the Convention which I haven't had time to show you, those that I received last minute I had no time to take photos of but thank you anyway. The women who bought the cards were delighted with them and had plenty of positive comments about your creativity. When I have the final total raised I will let you know, the IWC has a 100 euros to add to the total which is great news also.

Disney!

What did I do with my prize money for being demonstrator of the year??????? A weekend in Disneyland for the family. It is of course the family who see less of me now that SU! has become a job, the boys have to do more for themselves (a good thing I think) and the food on the table is a little less exciting than it used to be but I don't think any harm is being done. Anyway, last weekend we had an unexpected weekend in Disneyland Paris, the weather was average but it didn't rain, it was good to get away for a break together and we went at the same time as our friends the 'Pochon' family. I have lots of photos of the Pochons and less of us because Neil and the boys were often on the scariest rides, I was happy to look after their youngest daughter Valentine and let the boys do their 'boy thing'. The boys ready to sleep on Friday night. Valentine insisted that Neil go on the 'teacups' with her, she was beaming from ear to ear, she loves Neil for some reason!

The 3 amigos using their brains waiting on dinner arriving!

Dad and Greg.

Cheesy photo taken just to prove that I was actually there!

Alice.

Les Pochons sans Pierre.Neil and Greg actually did this ride, scared me stupid! The elevator starts at the top and drops to the bottom, listening to the screams was enough for me.Obligatory photos with Mickey and Pluto!

r

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, you saw the message (and hopefully understood most of it) about the Convention, now I'd like to take 2 minutes for some 'thank yous'!

The 15th November was my second anniversary of being a SU! demonstrator, what a 2 years it has been! I have quite simply had the best time recruiting a great team of people and building a customer base, many of whom are now friends and demos themselves. I love sharing my passion for Stampin'Up! products with others and sometimes don't believe that I am actually earning some spare cash while enjoying myself so much.

I'm not sure if a list is the right way to do this but here goes and I hope I don't miss anybody out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- ScrapAuvergne - I'd like to say thank you to the girls from this forum, I value all the help and friendship you've given me since I was introduced to you. Your help and willingness to be hostesses for my ateliers (and in turn demonstrators) gave me a huge kick start to my business and I value being part of this forum.
- My downline - I now have 10 demonstrators in my level 1 and 40 in my other levels. The only problem I find is that it's difficult to spend time together because everyone has such busy lives. I'm so looking forward to our weekend in March when we can share ideas and have a laugh together.
- My customers - without you my job is impossible, thank you so much for your fidelity to SU!, your willingness to play hostess and your presence at my ateliers. I'm looking forward to another year of SU! projects and ateliers and being there for your questions.
- My family and friends - for being understanding, especially when they don't receive cards on time (what is that saying about the cobbler and his family's shoes again)???????? I am grateful for your support and interest in what I am doing. I owe so many people phone calls and e-mails too, soon I promise!!!
- SU! - I don't regret for one moment signing up as a demonstrator 2 years ago. I have worked hard and put in a lot of hours and effort into my business, but, as you can see from the previous message, it isn't taken for granted and I am so proud to be 'demonstrator of the year for France 2009'.

I haven't named names but you know who you are, my support network of family, friends, fellow demonstrators and customers, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I can't remember if this picture of myself with Val and Katia was taken on Friday or Saturday, never mind, we were having a good time! On the Friday morning before the official start up of the Convention we did an atelier to make a nuancier of all the SU! inks and cardstock colours, it looked good and I'll certainly be offering it to my new recruits when I find time to get them made up that is!

Here we are just about to eat at our awards dinner on the Friday evening and next is waht the room looked like. Our table was very near the back of the room and I regretted that a bit when I had to walk past all the tables time and time again to pick up prizes. My face was very flushed by the end of the awards ceremony, as you can see by the boxes I won lots of prizes and I felt very spoiled. Monica (an English demonstrator) has a super photo on her blog of the 3 Burberry prizes we both won so you can click on the link if you want to see what was inside the boxes!

http://monicas-passions.blogspot.com/2009/11/convention-2009-part-2.html

And here we are at the end of the evening, all the French demos who were in Frankfurt. I have a sneaky feeling that the photo will have a lot more French faces in if we repeat it in London which is where the Convention is next year!

The first European SU! convention.

Well where do I start with this message????????? What a weekend, unforgettable even although it already seems like a lifetime ago! Here's my case packed up and ready with my swaps. I didn't manage to get as many done as I hoped but I know to be better prepared next year!

I made about 30 cards with the 'medallion' background stamp and the baby wipe technique, I so love this stamp and the teal and blue colours of ink I used. I then changed it to use with our new white craft ink on 'divine aubergine' cardstock. I highlighted the dots on the stamped image with Crystal Effects, it's a small quck step to do but very effective, I'm on my second bottle of Crystal Effects already as I use it so much. I made some tree decorations with a model I found on splitcoaststampers and of course a chosen few were destined to receive some home baked goodies, little sachets of coconut and chocolate truffles in our small cellophane bags (Jenny I haven't forgotten the recipe for you).

Okay, with my case carefully packed so as not to squash the cards or the truffles, I met Vanou at the the airport in Strasbourg and we travelled to Frankfurt on the Thursday night with Marithé and Marielle. We found our hotel which was a few steps away from the Conference centre where the Convention was held. We then picked up my friend Angie and went to sample the local flammekuche, delicious, we had such a laugh (as you can see) in the restaurant getting to know each other. Everyone found Angie's choice of 'flammekuche with spinach' hilarious as a comination, but it was tasy!

Right, I'm off to pinch some more of Vanou's photos to show you more of what happened. In case you are wondering, I took hardly any photos because my camera doesn't take pictures well indoors (could of course be the camera operator), Vanou being a professional photographer said I could use hers.

Je suis encore vivante!!!

Coucou à toutes! Ca fait longtemps depuis le 9 nov je sais!!!!!!!! MAIS je suis très occupé avec les ateliers en ce moment et pas beaucoup d'autre temps libre. Je me trouve avec quelques heures libre avant mon atelier ce soir donc j'essayerai de rattraper mon retard des messages!

J'ai decidé que je dois commencer à mettre le plupart des messages sur mon blog en anglais - pourquoi vous me demandez?????????????? J'ai plusieurs raisons:
1) ça me prends énormement de temps d'essayer de laisser une messgae comprehensible et sans trop des fautes ortographe/conjugaison en francais.
2) j'ai beaucoup des lectrices anglaises ou les francaises qui arrivent à me lire.
3) La Convention SU! est à Londres l'année prochaine et comme ça c'est les cours gratuit pour les autres démos francaises qui veux faire l'effort de lire mes messages en anglais.
4)plus important pour moi - ça sera plus vite!

Allez, aux vos dictionnaires!!!!!!!!!!!

Merci pour votre comprehension et j'éspère qu'il y a pas beaucoup du monde décu.

La Convention Stampin'Up! '09.

De retour de mon weekend à Francfort mais un atelier énorme ce soir donc il faut attendre jusqu'au demain pour mon bilan de La Convention. C'était super, mega, géniale, inoubliable etc. etc. Si vous voulez regarder quelques photos, il y a beaucoup (et un rapportage) sur le blog de Vanou (lien sous 'mes recrues').

Vous allez voir que j'étais gâtée donc je prends cette opportunité pour remercier tous mes clientes et mes recrues pour votre support et encouragement pendant cette année formidable. L'année prochaine La Convention est à Londres et je souhaite qu'il y a beaucoup de mes recrues avec moi pour passer un weekend même plus agréable!!!!!!!!!!! Ca vous dit un weekend à Londres entres copines???????? Vous savez quoi faire!!!!!!!!

Christmas boxes!

Voici quelques boites réalisé en atelier hier avec Muriel, Colette, Rolande, Léonore, Blondine et Sara, on a passé un super moment ensemble et chacun a fait 2 boites, un Père Noël et un bonhomme de neige. J'ai acheté le tutorial pour les boites ici. Rolande, Colette et Muriel vont faire des autres pour habiller leurs tables de Noël et on va dessiner une autre boite moins rigolo et plus classe pour les adultes.

Je suis dans mes preparatifs pour mon trajet en Allemagne demain pour la première Convention European de SU! Je prends l'avion à Strasbourg et c'est Vanou qui me cherche de l'aéroport et on conduis avec Marithé à Francfort. J'ai trop trop hâte de rencontre les autres démos de la France, Allemagne et Royaume Uni et il y aura ma copine Angie des Etats-Unis aussi. J'éspère que je me rappeller de prendre des photos, pas ma pointe forte, je vais essayer, en tout cas j'imagine que Vanou va prendre beaucoup que je peux piocher!

A la semaine prochaine.

Promotion Noël 1er nov au 29 dec!

Noël approche est Stampin'Up! vous offre des cadeaux!




Pour 60 € d'achats dans notre guide Cadeaux de Noël (cliquez ici) vous recevez une perforatrice d'étiquette ou de petite étiquette GRATUITE, d'une valeur de 17,50 € ! 120 euros des commandes = les 2 perforatrices gratuits.

Pour vous montrer quelques articles de la liste j'attache quelques photos des articles de chaque catégorie plus leurs prix.


Pour les scrappeuses.

Tous les kits Simply Scrappin sont dans la liste, (page 78 et 79 du catalogue) 21,95 euros.



Pour les enfants et ados.
Set de tampons Circle Circus (p.55) 34.95 euros
Marqueurs Audacieux et Brillants (p.72) 35.25 euros
Papier cartonné A4 Audacieux et Brillants (p.72) 9.25 euros
Perforatrice spirale (p.88) 11.95 euros



Pour vos voisins.
Papier cartonné A4 Bruissement Blanc (p.71) 7.95 euros
" " Rouge Rouge (p.72) 6.25 euros
" " Vert Olive (p.72) 6.25 euros
Ruban gros-grain Rouge Rouge (p.87) 8.75 euros
" " Vert Olive (p.72) 8.75 euros
Kit Simply Scrappin' Christmas Jingle (p.79) 21.95 euros


Pour les créatrices de cartes.
Notes Fleurs fraîches (p.80) 9.95 euros

Tampons Fraîcheur Exquise (p.53) 28.95 euros
Kit de découpage (p.90) 18.75 euros
Boutons Design 'au Lait' et 'Récréation' (p.83) 8.95 euros


Contactez moi pour passer une commande sur moira.mcilroy63@orange.fr Pour fêter ce promotion j'organise une tirage au sort à gagner un bon cadeau de 25 euros des produits SU! Pour chaque commande de 60 euros vous auriez une chance à gagner, je ferai une tirage fin nov et une tirage fin decembre, (ceci est une promotion qui m'est propre et qui n'engage en aucun cas la société Stampin'up!).