Say It Isn’t So

My baby is 20 today.

But I’m okay. Really. I’ll be fine. Yes, my eyes are a bit wet, but it’s just my allergies playing up. You know, as they do...in winter.

And I had NO idea what to make her for a card. None. Zilch. Zip. Nada.

I even felt some performance anxiety...I mean, she’s this intelligent, talented, amazing person, who created an animation for me for Mother’s Day. Yes, an animation. How many mums get one of those from their kids? It’s so unique and so special and how was I supposed to top that? And there’ve been so many birthdays that I’ve used all her ‘favourites’ - favourite colour, favourite things. I did get one bright idea relating to the degree she’s doing at uni, but decided to keep that for her graduation card, which I’ll need in just a few more short months...okay, deep breath...put that thought away for now...I can do it. I’m fine.

Maybe I should keep it simple, I thought. She’s a no frou-frou kinda gal. Perhaps that cute little pig saying ‘Ham it up for your birthday’? But then, she’s a vegetarian. Flowers? Nah, floral cards are not really her style. She wears a lot of black, maybe a sympathy style card for the demise of her teens? Hmm, no, I think she’s quite glad to see the back of them.

When I asked her to name three colours she likes (at the moment), she gave me grey, a pastel and a touch of gold. Then I asked for bold colours (I had Bokeh in mind), I got deep burgundy and a dark sage green. Sounds like a Christmas card, right? But I gave it a go, valiantly. And there were a few rejected half-made wannabees, I'm not going to lie. So I slept on it and found my way back to her original three colour combo, and here's what I finally ended up with:

That's her cat Missy on the outside window ledge, lol. 

Materials used:

• stamps - none
• card - smoky slate, basic grey, whisper white, vellum
• other - Celebrate You thinlits, Big Shot, sponge, balloon punch, gold sequins, mini glue dots, mounting tape, mounting strips, tweezers, glue pen

Hopefully she'll like it; she loves green and ombre, so fingers crossed. The green is new colour soft seafoam and I'm loving it already. I carried the balloon and sequins through to the inside...

We're off to lunch to celebrate (she has classes tonight, so dinner is out) and I've just finished icing the cake - more soft green here too, as it's a gluten free pistachio and lemon cake. Delish (we've had it before).

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

Edited to add: She loves the card! Yay!

Creatures of the Sky

Well hello and a happy Hump Day to you!

Much cuteness is in store for today's card starring a sweet-as-can-be dragon flying by with birthday wishes. I've loved this set from My Favourite Things for some time, so when Santa dropped it down my chimney I was very excited. Distress oxide inks for the background, naturally.

Awwww, so sweet!

My DDs are a primary school teacher and a regular babysitter, so between them they manage to use up most of the kids cards I make.

Materials used:

• stamps - MFT Magical Dragons
• card - whisper white, vellum
• other - Stamparatus, white embossing powder, heat tool, Big Shot, stitched rectangle dies, Copic markers, Stampin' Blends, distress oxide inks, blender tool, MFT Magical Dragon dies, rainbow builder thinlits, water spritzer, mounting strips, embossing buddy

Hope that DO fix will keep you going - if not, dose yourself up on chocolate and wine and I'll be back with more before you know it.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

The Bold and the Beautiful

Haha, no, today's post isn't about a TV soap opera - I have two cards for you; one is bold and the other ... yeah, you know what I'm saying.

Here's the bold:

Materials used:

• stamps - none
• card - basic black, whisper white, Graceful Glass designer vellum
• other - 2018-2020 in colour markers, mounting tape

And here's the beautiful. The inspiration for this came from a YouTube video I was watching, plus I've been thinking for a while now that my detailed floral thinlits were definitely underutilised. You could say it was serendipitous!

How adorable does that die look in the multi colours? I'm loving it. DH and DD both love this one too - DH even complimented my colour blending - hold the phone! Lol.

Materials used:

• stamps - Love What You Do
• card - whisper white, acetate
• other - distress oxide inks, detailed floral thinlits, Big Shot, blender tool, precision base plate, Big Shot die brush, fine tip glue, polka dot tulle ribbon, stitched oval die

And don't you love the cute polka dot tulle ribbon? Me too. It's another newbie coming in the 2018 annual catalogue, so you haven't long to wait until you too can get your mitts on some.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez

Enjoy Life

For some reason today's two cards weren't photographed and posted at the time I made them. I wonder why...hmm, could I have been too busy bouncing around in rabbit holes? It's more than possible, wouldn't you say?

Any-who, as you'll see, they both use one of SU's new stamp sets that I was lucky enough to pre-order. For the first I've used...wait for it...yes, distress oxide inks. You got me! The second, though, uses one of my favourite SU colours and sadly, one that is being retired. Noooooooooooooooooo! I will miss soft sky A. LOT.

Materials used:

• stamps - Enjoy Life
• card - whisper white, basic black
• other - distress oxide inks, blender tool, white embossing powder, heat tool, mounting tape, sponge dauber

Materials used:

• stamps - Enjoy Life
• card - soft sky, basic black, whisper white
• other - Rainbow builder die, Big Shot, MFT mini cloud stencil, sponge, Stamparatus, mounting tape

Not the greatest photos...hmmm, gotta work on that. Thanks for dropping in.

Cheers

Kez

A Touch of Kindness

Did someone say rabbits? Wait, maybe that was me.

Wikipedia tells me that "Down the rabbit hole" is a metaphor for an entry into the unknown, the disorienting or the mentally deranging, from its use in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. My foray into the world of distress oxide inks was certainly initially a leap into the unknown, but now...hmm, I think we all know whether it has become disorienting or mentally deranging... (I see that eye roll)

At any rate, simple cards seem to be the flavour of the moment and while today's is perhaps a touch less straightforward than the previous two, it was very easy to put together nonetheless.

SU's new set Enjoy Life has some great sentiments and silhouette images, so I came up with this pretty Thank You card. It shimmers beautifully in real life, which for some reason my phone camera just does not seem to be able to capture in print. Ah well.

Materials used:

• stamps - Enjoy Life
• card - whisper white, basic black, Sahara sand
• other - distress oxide inks, blender tool, water spritzer, Stamparatus, shimmer mist, mounting tape

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

A Friend Like You

Another very simple card for you today and once again I've used the Love What You Do stamp set, a newbie that's coming in the 2018 annual catalogue.

Here I've used distress oxide ink for my background (I'm sure that will come as no surprise) and then the flowers were simply 'painted with water'. This, of course, begins the oxidisation process that lightens the ink and you get this lovely tone-on-tone effect. Simples! (as the little meerkat says in the TV ad, lol)

Materials used:

• stamps - Love What You Do
• card - whisper white, basic black
• other - white embossing powder, heat tool, aqua painter, mounting tape, embossing buddy, paper towel

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kez

Beautiful Day

You could probably count on the fingers of one hand how often I've posted a card as simple as todays.  But, you know, the old adage 'less is more' is often right and it certainly is with this card. It began as a desire to use some of the new in colours for 2018-2020 and although I originally intended to add some dsp, once I got this far I knew instinctively that nothing else was needed.

And I love it. It's definitely simple but it's also bright and cheerful and reminds me that in every day there is beauty of one kind or another. Today's beauty was in helping my very stressed uni student daughter organise a few things so she could be in a better frame of mind to work on all her assignments.

I stamped the flower and sentiment first, colouring using a blender pen and Lovely Lipstick ink, then went over the petals with a Versamark pen and clear embossed. This ensured the flowers would keep their colour when I sponged using Pineapple Punch ink.

Materials used:

• stamps - Love What You Do
• card - whisper white
• other - mounting tape, blender pen, sponge

I hope you found some beauty in your day today. Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez

Like Peas and Carrots

Just like Jenny and Forrest, two things that go together like peas and carrots are mint macaron and rich razzleberry. See for yourself:

Materials used:

• stamps - You've Got This (retiring), En Francais (retired)
• card - mint macaron, very vanilla, watercolour, Delightfully Detailed laser-cut speciality paper
• other - sponge dauber, aqua painter, Dimensionals, markers, two-way glue pen

Am I right or am I right? I know! A match made in heaven. From this day on, always together. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Disclaimer: no distress oxide inks were used in the making of this card. Go figure.

Deeper and Deeper

You may be forgiven for thinking that by now I would have begun to dig myself out of the distress oxide inks rabbit hole; but no, you'd be wrong. So very, very wrong. See, I stumbled upon some more YouTube videos and ... yeah, enough said, I think. #jennifermcguireisanenabler

Up until now I've been sponging my DOs on regular white card but that all ended today - because I tried them on watercolour paper and OH. MY. GOLLY. GOSH. I am deeply in love all over again. Man, these things just keep getting betterer and betterer (yes, I know that's not a real word, but it expresses my feelings so well, so roll with me on this one, okay?)

Here, take a lookie:

Materials used:

• stamps - Seaside Shore
• card - watercolour, basic black, pistachio pudding
• other - aqua painter, distress oxide inks, water spritzer, shimmer mist, Dimensionals, glitter epoxy shapes

I maybe kinda sorta went just a smidge overboard spritzing this piece with some shimmer mist as well as regular water. But oh, it's sooooooooooooo pretty, all sparkly and stuff. Mhmmm. The little glitter epoxy "bubbles" fit right in. Unfortunately, I could not seem to capture all the sparkle in a photo, so you'll just have to take my word for it, ok?

And also:

Materials used:

• stamps - Sunshine and Rainbows
• card - watercolour, basic black, vellum, daffodil delight
• other - rainbow builder dies, Big Shot, Stamparatus, MFT radiating rays stencil, distress oxide inks, blender tools

DD says the combination of spritzed splotches, stencil effect and graduating colours gives this one a tie-dyed look, which I can totally see. Very Katoomba-ish, lol (sorry - Blue Mountains joke).

And then I did go back to using white card, and came up with this Autumn-themed beauty which I am loving the background of.

I stamped and embossed the sentiment before sponging, then did the water-drop thing and also stamped leaves with water. More sponging on scrap white let me cut out leaf dies in matching colours, which I curled slightly at the edges and only attached in the middle, so they'd look as if they are actually fluttering down the page. Did it work? Let me know - feedback, people!

Materials used:

• stamps - Colourful Seasons
• card - Sahara sand, whisper white, early espresso
• other - distress oxide inks, blender tool, water spritzer, white embossing powder, heat tool, Big Shot, Seasonal Layers thinlits, mounting tape, fine tip glue

Okay, I've been out here long enough, methinks. Time to get back down my rabbit hole. Toss me some chocolate, would you please, and thanks for stopping by. 

Cheers

Kez

I Just Can't Resist

Hello from down the rabbit hole! It's great in here - there's distress oxide inks and chocolate marshmallow Easter eggs! What more could a crafter wish for? Okay, you make a good point: wine would be good too. I'm sure the sun is over the yardarm somewhere in the world, right?

So...cards, yes.

I've always loved the white on white effect, especially when teamed with a pop of colour. Today's first card is such a one - take a lookie:

Materials used:

• stamps - none
• card - whisper white, lemon lime twist
• other - balloon punch, Celebrate You thinlits, Big Shot, mounting tape, distress oxide inks, sponging tool, two-way glue pen, snail adhesive

More balloons for my second card and I've used a stencil for this one, spritzing it with water then applying over my sponging for the oxidation process to give me my pattern.

In the next close up, you can see the recessed panel and the shine on the sentiment. It was stamped in craft ink and clear embossed.

Materials used:

• stamps - Picture Perfect Birthday
• card - Sahara sand, whisper white, basic black, Sahara sand patterned paper
• other - basic black craft ink, clear embossing powder, heat tool, double stitched rectangle dies (non SU), chevron stencil (non SU), black rhinestone (non SU), balloon punch, linen thread, Dimensionals, mounting tape, sponge dauber, distress oxide inks (non SU)

My last card is pretty straightforward sponging, but I love the colour combination.

Materials used:

• stamps - Colourful Seasons
• card - basic black, whisper white, silver foil
• other - distress oxide inks, blending tool, silver embossing powder, heat tool, Card Front Builder thinlits, Big Shot, Tree Branch Circle die (Memory Box)

 Time to get back to some chocolate...I mean...housework :-P

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez

You Shine

This week's challenge over at Just Add Ink intrigued me -

As I've been right into stencils lately it didn't take me long to think of an idea for a card design and luckily, as I worked it all fell into place very nicely. Here's my offering:

I sponged first using distress oxide inks (you know by now how much I LOVE how well these blend), applied my stencil spritzed with water and dried with a heat tool to bring out the oxidation process. I cut two 'Shine' dies from gold foil and stuck them together for a bit more dimension, and the stamped sentiments come from two Stampin' Up! sets. The final touch was the clear epoxy shapes, which add interest and dimension without detracting from the coloured background.

Materials used:

• stamps - Lovely Inside and Out, Amazing You
• card - whisper white, basic black, gold foil, amethyst (non SU)
• other - Radiating Rays stencil (MFT); distress oxide inks - candied apple and wild honey (Ranger); mini blender tool (Ranger); mounting tape; water spritzer; sparkle and shine dies (PTI), clear epoxy shapes; tweezers; stamp-a-ma-jig, heat tool

I hope you're not getting sick of distress oxide cards - I've got more colours arriving this week, so I'm not crawling out of this rabbit hole any time soon!

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers
Kez

Bunnies and Punnies

I have fallen down a rabbit hole.

Kinda not unexpected, given the proximity to Easter. Ha. [Oh, come on! Work with me here! It was at least semi-funny. You had to have anticipated something of the kind, given the title of this blog post. (You totally just re-read the title, didn't you?)]

So, as I was saying, rabbit hole.

Yeah.

See, the thing is...well, you all know how much I love brayering and sponging for making beautiful backgrounds for cards, right? Right. So, for some time now I have been resisting the almost irresistible lure that is distress inks. And then they came along with distress oxide inks, and my self control (of which I have, I freely admit, very little) was pushed almost to breaking point. Almost, but not quite. I managed to resist them for some months, perhaps years. I don't know; I lose track of time.

Any-who...just recently I made the mistake of watching a YouTube video of Jennifer McGuire demonstrating distress oxide inks....and....well, my resolve weakened, shall we say? And maybe four colours got added to an order I was placing online...and then perhaps a few days - and YouTube videos - later, another (heh, heh) twelve more colours were ordered...

...and now...

Man, I love these things!

So yeah - rabbit hole.

I may or may not have been spending a fair amount of time experimenting with different techniques and colour combinations and...well, you get the drift.

The upshot of all of that is, here for your delectation today are a some cards made using distress oxide inks. Have I mentioned how much I love these? Okay, good.

Materials used:

• stamps - none
• card - watermelon wonder, basic black, whisper white
• other - distress oxide inks, blending tool, Inkylicious stencils - Wings of Flight and Skyline/Rooftops/Sun/Moon/Stars, post-it notes, mounting tape

Here's the birds again, this time with a night time sky rather than morning.

Materials used:

• stamps - Best Yet (retired)
• card - Bermuda bay, whisper white, basic black
• other - distress oxide inks, blending tool, Inkylicious stencils - Wings of Flight, embossing buddy, white embossing powder, heat tool

And this next one is my favourite so far. I love the colour combo plus the effect of the stencil, which was simply spritzed with water and left to sit over the sponged background for two minutes, then the piece was dried with a heat tool. Also love the way the oxidation process not only lightens the colours but gives a textured look as well. BTW, this card is an adaptation of one of Jennifer's.

Materials used:

• stamps - Sunshine and Rainbows
• card - whisper white, basic grey
• other - distress oxide inks, blending tool, heat tool, stitched circle die, Big Shot, Up and Away thinlits, water spritzer, paper towels, sunburst thinlits, Dimensionals, MFT Radiating Rays stencil

So, yep, I'm firmly down this hole and have no intention of digging myself out any time soon...okay, maybe for Easter. Cos, you know, chocolate.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez

CASE

As crafters, I'm sure we're all familiar with the old adage, 'Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery' - in fact, we even created our own version of the phrase: CASEing. To CASE means to 'copy and share everything' and it's a major part of what we do - we share our creations in the hopes of inspiring others. There is an etiquette to CASEing though: if you copy someone's else's work, you give them credit for the original design and don't just purloin it as your own idea.

Today's card is one I've CASEd from Paula Dobson, who is a master with a brayer or a sponge. Sure, I've made a few cosmetic changes, but it's still essentially the card she designed. I fell in love with it and simply could not resist attempting to recreate it, and I'm so glad I did.

Here's my take:

You can see Paula's original here, plus she also gives a brief rundown on how she made it. Two tips I can give from my own experience: (1) don't apply too much ink when you're sponging and (2) keep inky fingers away from the clean white space! (yep, learned that one the hard way, lol)

Materials used:

• stamps - Amazing You (SAB)
• card - soft sky, basic black, whisper white
• other - white embossing powder, heat tool, embossing buddy, Celebrate You thinlits, Big Shot, Dimensionals, sponges, rhinestones, stamp-a-ma-jig

We're coming to the end of the Sale-a-bration promotion, but I know I'll be using this stamp/die combo for many months to come, I just love it.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

Hugs and Flowers

Inspired by a Monica Gale card, I played around this morning with my new Stamparatus. In case you've been asleep through all the hoopla about this stamp positioning apparatus, it's a recent Stampin' Up! product which will be on the market worldwide on June 1st. What sets it apart from other similar tools is that it has two removable/reversible stamp platforms, giving you the opportunity to set up four (yep, FOUR) stamps at once for multi-step stamping. It also means you can do the effect I've done here, called hinge step stamping.

The flowers were coloured with pink pirouette and old olive Stampin' Blends, then accented with my sweet sugarplum marker. Lightly drawing around the silhouette with Sahara sand or (as in this case) soft sky marker creates a natural shadow and makes the bouquet 'pop' visually out from the paper. Try not to look at the crookedness of my white layer - when this happens in class, we always say "That's how you know it's been lovingly hand made and not mass produced". Well, that's my excuse anyway, and I'm sticking with it!

Materials used:

• stamps - Lots of Lavender (SAB), Lovely Inside & Out
• card - sweet sugarplum, basic black, whisper white
• other - Stampin' Blends, markers, Stamparatus, Dimensionals, white embossing powder, heat tool

Here's a video of the hinge step stamping technique:

This is the same technique I used on my 'sneakers' card here. Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

SaveSave

Lavender Love

Have you had a play with SU's new Shimmer White Embossing Paste? No? OH. MY. GOODNESS. Order some NOW!!!

I had a play with this new product earlier in the week and instantly fell in love. There will be a whole lot more on my next order, believe me.

Here's the first finished card. For this I mixed two drops of flirty flamingo re-inker with a good sized blob of paste (gave me enough for two cards), then used it on SU's diamond decorative mask (comes in a pack with 3 others). It is soooooooo damn sparkly and pretty - trust me, you won't be able to resist this stuff. Hint: once your jar is opened, cover the top with Glad Wrap before putting the lid back on (to stop the air getting to it and hardening it).

Materials used:

• stamps - Lots of Lavender
• card - whisper white, flirty flamingo, fresh fig
• other - shimmer white embossing paste, palette knives, silicone craft sheet, re-inker, Pattern Party decorative masks, blender pen, layering ovals dies, Big Shot, Dimensionals, clear Wink of Stella

Here's a bit closer up so you can see the sparkle.

Have I convinced you yet to get some? Good! Go forth and purchase! (and hey, thanks for calling in)

Cheers

Kez