Tea Light Card

While browsing around the internet I came across a gorgeous little project by Marianne Skjelstad that I just couldn't wait to try. It's a card, gift and tag all in one and is quite easy to make.

Here's the front of my tea light card:

And the inside:

(Apart from the patterned papers I've used for this project, everything else is SU. Much as I love SU stuff (and I truly do) when it comes to pretty, feminine floral papers, they just don't do it for me. Sigh! I wish they would, I really, really do! Anyways, I've used some papers I had sitting around and you'll probably notice that I do tend to buy papers that match well with SU colours!)

On the original project, Marianne had tied some ribbon around the box on the inside (presumably to hold the tea lights in), but I attached a piece of acetate inside instead. I put the open flap of my box towards the spine of the card rather than the outside, as I find my flap is a bit loose and prone to come open and I didn't want all the candles falling out!

Materials used:

• stamps - Butterfly Basics
• card - crumb cake, whisper white, rose red, non SU patterned papers
• other - deco labels framelits, Big Shot, sticky strip, butterfly thinlits die, pearls, dimensionals, acetate, scallop trim border punch, sponge dauber, white organza ribbon, bone folder

My thanks to Marianne for sharing her project and the wonderful tutorial for making it. If you'd like to make one for yourself, follow the link HERE.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kez

PCS Blog Hop - Eiffel Tower of Love

Welcome!

Some of the Design Team members of Paper Crafters Sampler are holding a blog hop featuring the Eiffel Tower of Love, the featured template from the January 2015 Paper Crafters Sampler, 'Lovable You'.

The iconic structure of the Eiffel Tower has been chosen for this romantic themed sampler, just in time for Valentines Day. Paris is the epitome of love and romance, so join us in exploring just some of the ways the template can be interpreted for your romantic projects.

 Simple and sweet are the watchwords for my project!

The first thing I made was my card. I printed a larger than usual version of the Eiffel Tower from MDS on to whisper white, using a laser printer so the ink would be fixed. My heart shaped moon was made with a mask, then I brayered my romantic sunset and sponged a little at top and bottom also.

To the intricate detailing of the template I have simply added banners, hearts and rhinestones to glamourise the tower centrepiece for the occasion. The colours and shapes of my card are reflected in the embellishments on my tower.

Materials used:

• stamps - Artistic Etchings (MDS version)
• card - crisp cantaloupe, basic grey, whisper white, patterned paper - crisp cantaloupe and wisteria wonder, white glitter
• inks - crisp cantaloupe, wisteria wonder, basic grey
• other - Eiffel Tower template, rhinestones, pennant punch, whisper white bakers twine, dimensionals, triple heart punch, brayer, sponge dauber, full heart punch (MDS version), two-way glue pen
• non SU - computer and printer, e-Cutter

Now it's time to move on and see what Pam Dotts has in store for you. I'm sure you will love her creative ideas!

And if you've just joined here and would like to go back to the beginning of the hop, click HERE to pop back to Melanie's blog.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

Love Is In The Air

Happy Australia Day!

I don't have a card to show you this year - but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy crafting! Last week I was down in Melbourne, helping DD22 make some teaching resources for her new classroom (crafty mums come in very handy!) and now that I am back home, I am gearing up for my first Blog Hop as part of the Paper Crafters Sampler Design Team.

So come back later in the week to join us on the blog hop with the theme Eiffel Tower of Love. Not only have I been creating a 3D item, but I've been brayering as well - one of my favourite things!

Meanwhile, here's a sneak peek at my project for the January PCS project:

Thanks for stopping by - hope to see you again later in the week!

Cheers
Kez

Totes Adorbs

One of the cutest items to arrive in the new Occasions catalogue is the bow builder punch - as the kids would say, it's "totes adorbs"! So when it arrived on my doorstep, I just had to have a play.

My first card is pretty much the same layout as the sample in the catty, but I've done a baby boy theme instead of birthday.

Materials used:

• stamps - Petite Pairs
• card - soft sky, wild wasabi, whisper white, subtles patterned paper
• inks - wild wasabi
• other - bow builder punch, dimensionals, subtles candy dots, stamp-a-ma-jig, large polka dot embossing folder, Big Shot

That then set me thinking about another use for a masculine card with a bow, and this one was born:

Materials used:

• card - basic black, whisper white
• other -  bow builder punch, dimensionals, neutrals candy dots, embossing stylus, sticky strip
• non SU - Kaiser jewels

There's just something about a man in a tux, isn't there? Even a card in a tux looks good! I read a meme once that said a tux is to a woman what lingerie is to a man - and I personally agree wholeheartedly!

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kez

Triple Layer Butterfly

A nice big brown box arrived on my doorstep yesterday so this morning I was excited to sit and play. I was dying to try out the beautifully ethereal Butterfly Basics stamp set and matching dies from the Occasions catalogue and this is what I ended up with for my first effort.

My three layers of butterfly are in gradient shades; I used pool party, coastal cabana and Bermuda bay. As with all delicate dies, you need to use some wax paper between the card and the die and I also ran it back and forth a couple of times in my Big Shot to make sure I got a good cut. That made it super-easy to remove all the little bits.

Materials used:

• stamps - Butterfly Basics
• card - blackberry bliss, Sahara sand, pool party, coastal cabana, Bermuda bay
• ink - Sahara sand, blackberry bliss
• other - butterfly thinlits, Big Shot, rhinestones, dimensionals, wax paper, embossing stylus

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

Love Letter

Being in the mood for colouring yesterday, I dug out my Magnolia stamps and came across this gorgeous image. My card is rather an indulgence of girly-girly pink, ribbon and flowers - but I have to admit it is fun to do every now and then!

Materials used:

• stamps - En Francais (SU), Tilda with love letter (Magnolia)
• card - pink pirouette, basic grey, whisper white
• inks - smoky slate, Memento Tuxedo Black
• Blendabilities - pink pirouette, skin tones, smoky slate, soft sky
• Copics - Y11, Y21, Y32, E50, E33, E55, R85
• other - Spritzer tool; markers - so saffron, pink pirouette, soft sky, Sahara sand; Big Shot; ovals framelits; distressing tool; sponge dauber; dimensionals; 1 3/8" square punch, owl punch, bird punch, pretty in pink satin ribbon
• non SU - paper flowers, hot glue gun

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

Whetting Your Appetite

Here are some previous samples of projects from Paper Crafters Sampler to show you the wonderful range of items they come up with:

Don't forget, your membership gives you a range of projects with full instructions - some cards, some 3D projects - and each month there is also a template for a project such as those shown in the photos above.

Early bird pricing ends soon!

2015 Early Bird Special

It's time to ring in the new year with the early bird special for the Paper Crafters Sampler. Sign up for the full year and receive $10 off the regular full year price.        Hurry, because the early bird special runs for 3 days only! $89.00 NEW THIS YEAR!  PCS EXCLUSIVE TEMPLATES AVAILABLE IN PDF AND SVG.  The exclusive template of the month is the Eiffel Love Tower that doubles as a tabletop decoration or treat holder.  Here's a sneak peek of the template.  The full embellished sample will be in the January issue, released on January 10th.

Visit Pockets of Inspiration at: http://pocketsofinspiration.ning.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez

Exciting News

Just a couple of days before Christmas I had a nice surprise in my email inbox - I was invited to join the Design Team at Paper Crafters Sampler. I said yes!

PCS is a Stampin' Up! only group where each month you can receive a bunch of exclusive, wonderfully creative projects - with full instructions to help you recreate them at home - that fit around a theme. So for the next six months you will see snippets of the projects I create for PCS and if you are interested you can join on a monthly or annual basis.

Coming up soon will be the PCS Early Bird Special, which gives you an opportunity to get a discount on a full year membership, so keep an eye open for that!

Thanks for dropping in.

Cheers
Kez

Happy New Year!

Well, here we are in 2015 already - can you believe it? Me neither.

My lovely ladies are impatient to start classes again, so this weekend we are playing with new goodies from the Occasions and Sale-a-bration catalogues.

Firstly a cheerful birthday card using the oh-so-cute balloon framelits and co-ordinating stamp set, Celebrate Today, which are in the Occasions catty. There is also some dsp to match - that's one of the things I love most about Stampin' Up!

Materials used:

• stamps - Celebrate Today
• card - Bermuda bay, crushed curry, calypso coral, whisper white, Birthday Bash dsp
• inks - crushed curry, mossy meadow, Versamark
• other - Big Shot, balloon framelits, white bakers twine, dimensionals, clear embossing powder, heat tool

Lotus Blossom is a very popular set from the Sale-a-bration catalogue - and with good reason! It's a three-step photopolymer set and I could not resist trying it out. I wanted the gorgeous flowers to take centre stage, so my card is a clean and simple one which shows off those lotus blossoms to perfection.

Materials used:

• stamps - Lotus Blossom, unknown retired sentiment
• card - blushing bride, strawberry slush, whisper white
• inks - blushing bride, strawberry slush, pistachio pudding, basic grey

Our third card is a fun little number using the On Film framelits paired with the Snapshot single stamp. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Snapshot
• card - crisp cantaloupe, basic black, soft sky, whisper white, retired dsp
• inks - Memento Tuxedo black
• other - on film framelits, label card thinlits, Big Shot, triple heart punch, 35 mm circle punch, dimensionals, Blendabilities (soft sky and smoky slate), rhinestone, 2-way glue pen
• non SU - wax paper

I'll be back in a few days with some news and a sneak peek.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Master, O Master

Today DD22 is graduating with a Masters in Teaching (Primary) from Melbourne University, so the family have travelled en masse for the ceremony.

Only two years ago we were there for her BA graduation and I made her a special stair-step card for the occasion (see this post). This time her hood colour is malachite green and I've gone with a card-in-a-box using black, green and silver with a star theme.

Here tis:

Materials used:

• stamps - Great Grads, Simply Stars
• card - basic black, silver glitter, green (non SU), whisper white
• other - stars framelits, Big Shot, star punches, acetate, dimensionals, Timeless Type alphabet dies, silver embossing powder, heat tool

I'm very happy with how this turned out, so I hope she likes it! I'll add on photos from the ceremony when I can.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez

Edited to add: some photos of the day

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

OMGosh I LOVE Pinterest!

My ladies are getting used to me saying "I saw an idea on Pinterest" and I have lured many of them to  join this amazing (and incredibly addictive) website. For our annual Christmas dinner this year I challenged everyone to make a decoration for house or tree and for my own contribution, had to look no further than my fav go-to internet "guru". Here is my (predominantly SU) Santa Star decoration, inspired by one I saw on Pinterest:

Is he cute or what?

He's a little cross-eyed! Probably 'cos he's got so much work to do in the next couple of weeks!

There are a few retired punches used here - we punch art people NEVER get rid of old punches! (There's gotta be a joke in there somewhere - you know, the "old punches never die, they just ....." type! Can anyone think of a goodie?)

Materials used:

• card - white linen (non SU), blush blossom (retired), silver glitter
• other - red felt, moustache die, stars framelit, Big Shot, word window punch (retired), 3/4" circle punch, horizontal slot punch (retired), decoration punch (retired), itty bitty star punch, owl punch, non SU embossing folder, sponge dauber, dimensionals, 2-way glue pen

And that gave me an idea for this year's Christmas card for my ladies - I've made a star shaped easel card with the decoration on the front. It is adhered with mini glue dots, so it can be removed and hung on the tree - it's a card and a gift in one! (I know, I am brilliant!!!) 

Materials used:

• card - real red, basic black, silver glitter, whisper white, white glitter
• other - as above plus star framelits, petite curly label punch, mini glue dots

Ho Ho Ho! Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Peace And Joy

Coming up next week is my last class of 2014 and we are making some one-off, special Christmas cards.

I am totally in love with this first colouring technique using white embossing and Blendabilities markers that is so simple yet so effective.

 Materials used:

• stamps - Ornamental Pine
• card - whisper white, mossy meadow
• other - white embossing powder, heat tool, ovals framelits, Big Shot, dimensionals, Blendabilities (old olive, crumb cake, skin tones), banner punch

Secondly is a card I cased from Debby Hughes with a few minor changes. The delicacy of the doily stamp and vellum poinsettia are just gorgeous - much nicer in real life than in the photo.

Materials used:

• stamps - Joyful Christmas, Hello Doily, Good Greetings
• card - crumb cake, white linen (non SU), vellum card
• other - dimensionals, metallic twine (silver), rhinestones, burlap ribbon

And last but by no means least, we will be making this diorama card which is an adaptation of a gorgeous card made by Linda Higgins, a fellow Aussie demo. I use a blend of white embossing powder and dazzling diamonds (about 50/50) to get a sparkle on the "snow covered" trees.

 Materials used:

• stamps - Holiday Home, Lovely as a Tree, French Foliage (retired)
• card - night of navy, silver glitter, whisper white, white glitter
• other - Holiday Home framelits, Big Shot, dimensionals, Blendabilities (night of navy, daffodil delight), white embossing powder/dazzling diamonds mix, heat tool, deco label framelits

Linda has a video tutorial on her blog for making this card, you can see it and her original card by clicking on the link HERE.

Well, that's it for this year! I do hope you've enjoyed popping in every now and then for some ideas or inspiration and that you'll return in 2015. Have a wonderful holiday season full of love, joy and peace and take care on the roads. Thanks to all my loyal followers and an especially big THANK YOU to those of you who leave comments, I really love to read them and hear what you think.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

A Month And A Day

It had to happen eventually, I know, but it sure does seem to have come around awfully fast - the last of our Christmas stamp-a-stack classes, that is. With only a month and a day until Christmas itself (scary thought, let's not go there!), it's time to get these bad boys written, addressed and in the mail!

Our first card is one I made last year when I was on the Splitcoaststampers Creative Crew design team and my ladies love it so much they wanted to re-create it. Using non-traditional colours, this was a CASE of a lovely card by Mel Sharp of Melbourne. Here tis:

Materials used:

• stamps - Four the Holidays, Christmas Collectibles
• card - basic black, very vanilla
• other - holiday ornaments framelits, pearls, Big Shot, dimensionals, stamp-a-ma-jig, embroidery thread (non SU)

Our second card is newly designed and inspired by a couple of cards around the www. It uses one of our new photopolymer sets and I really did love being able to see exactly where I was stamping. I used my aqua painter to brush an ink wash for the sky, then when that was dry, coloured the cardinal and trees using markers - fast and easy! To me, the Decorative Dots embossing reflects the snow falling effect, although DD16 disagreed! What do you think?

Materials used:

• stamps - White Christmas
• card - basic black, watercolour, whisper white, Baja breeze
• other - pennant punch, bakers twine, aqua painter, dimensionals, real red and crumb cake markers, on film framelits, Big Shot, decorative dots embossing folder

We only have one more class this year and our annual Christmas Dinner to look forward to - and this year I have challenged my ladies to make a decoration for home or tree. Can't wait to see what they come up with!

Meanwhile, we'll be toiling in the heat today - we are expecting 39 degrees Celsius today! Might be kinda nice to be making a winter-themed card! Lol!

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

Hashtag Awesomeness!

A tongue-in-cheek fun masculine card is my offering for you today! I saw the moustache/monocle combo on Pinterest and decided to combine it with a co-ordinating embossing folder. Great for birthday or Father's Day.

As my DH has always had a mou, I'm sure my girls will get some use out of this one!

Materials used:

• stamps - @sosocial
• card - basic black, crumb cake, very vanilla
• other - moustache die, 1/2" circle punch, 3/4" circle punch, windows framelit, Big Shot, dimensionals, black marker
• non SU - moustache embossing folder

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez