Here we are at August gifts. This month was the special month with 2 cards and a gift of SU items and remember I said it’s all about the packaging. That’s what I think anyway. Of course you need to meet the minimum requirements but you need to create the handmade part which is the packaging to send the items in.

August just flew by for me, not unlike the rest of the year to be honest. I had all good intentions of having my final gift to my partner no later than the beginning of the last week of August but it was only sent last Friday by Express Post and received earlier this week. However I was even happier with August than I was with July.

Seeing I was running late my partner received her 2 cards and gift all together. I did however mark the envelopes as Card 1 and Card 2 and only revealed who I was in Card 2.

The first card she should have opened was this one.

I’m not sure if you can see the glitter that I’ve added to the flower so here’s a close up for you.

I finished off the inside by adding a strip of the DSP I  used on the front of the card.

This was the final part of the package.

I’ve used another one of Lauren Meader’s templates which is holding the SU items. Inside is the Ovals Die, Medium Jewelry Tag Punch, Sticky Strip, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Cutting Blades, a Glue Stick and 5 Mini Calendar Tabs for 2011.

I also made this Post-It Note holder which fits inside the box too.

Next up I created this little box which contains 3 varieties of Tea bags.

Then there’s the remainder of those ‘sugar free’ lollies I’d purchased just for my partner.

And lastly is the card.

I wanted the card to use the same DSP as the rest of the gifts and wasn’t sure what I was going to do at first. I ended up making a suspension card.

Here’s a view of the inside.

The sentiment is one from a new Hostess Level 3 set and reads “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. – Winston Churchill”

We have a month break through September before we start out next round from October – December. Stampin’ Up in Oz is not a ‘demo only’ group but is only for those who love Stampin’ Up and live in Australia. We have restricted the group to Australia only to keep postage costs down and fair for all who participate. The Secret Sister swap is not the only thing we do over there either so why not pop over and check it out.

Till next time….