Taking my own advice

It is a sign of great wisdom when you take the advice you so liberally dish out to others ... well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Yesterday I was rabbiting on ... er, I mean waxing lyrical ... about gaining inspiration from surfing blog sites and looking at card samples, and today I have put my rubber where my mouth is! Ever since the new catty came out, I have been toying with getting the Inspired by Nature stamp set. Each time I see it used on other blogs and over at Splitcoast, I am more inclined to move it up my wish list. Well, finally in the past week two cards tipped me over the edge ...

... firstly a totally GOJUS faux silk card that you can see on Marelle's blog (and which I made in a class with her last week), and

... secondly a supremely FANTABULOSO card made by Teneale using the ghosting technique. Haven't tried that technique yet, but I will, oh yes, I will!

So I did it. I ordered the set. Hopefully tomorrow my new Aus Post man will bring that magic brown box and dump it ... I mean place it carefully ... on my front doorstep, ready for me to squeal with delight and open it right up to find that most glorious of phenomenons - new rubber! Meanwhile, I have borrowed a set from Marelle for an upcoming workshop, so I got to have a little play, yippee!

Supplies used (all SU):

• stamps - Inspired by Nature, Think Happy Thoughts, Weathered
• card - mellow moss, pumpkin pie, whisper white
• punches - 32 mm circle, 35 mm circle
• markers - mellow moss, pumpkin pie, apricot appeal
• other - filigree brad, apricot appeal brad, dimensionals, sponge daubers

Oh yes, I am going to have a LOT of fun with this one. I can see that I'll have to take my own advice a lot more often ... I obviously know what I'm talking about!!!!!

Cheers

Kez

Inspiration

The SU logo says "Inspire. Create. Share." I personally think it should be Create. Share. Inspire. cos that's what we demos (and bloggers) do - we create something, share it with you, and hope that it inspires you to try something new or look at something in a different way.

Today's card was such a one - a good cyberfriend of mine was inspired by my Tri Shutter card (see mine here) to create her own for her niece's birthday. I think she did a FANTASTIC job and as she doesn't have a blog of her own, I asked if I could show it to you here. Hopefully it will inspire you too - these cards are very easy and are at least a 9 on the WOW impact scale!

Card by Lynda S.

Lynda used Bella Rose DSP from SU, flowers from Kaiser and Hibiscus, brads from Renoir and Paper Fasteners, gold stickers from Upkit and Tilda stamp from Magnolia. She's thinking of doing a pirate one for another birthday; can't wait to see that one!

So, hopefully we have inspired you to have a go at a tri shutter card - or any adaptation that your creative imagination comes up with!

Thanks for stopping by. See ya!

Cheers
Kez

Flower Pot Frenzy

The lovely ladies at my watercolour class the other day had a lot of fun experimenting with the various techniques and of course LOVED the simple re-inking one. They made some beautiful flower pot cards which I want to show you, but unfortunately I had forgotten my camera - doh! I did manage to snap a few pics using my mobile phone, so please excuse the quality of the photos; the first one in particular is very out of focus!

This is the very first time the ladies have used watercolour crayons, so I am very proud of their efforts.

Didn't they do a great job?

School holidays begin today and I know my girls are soooooooooooooo looking forward to the break, DD17 especially (Year 12)! DD11 is off to a diabetes kids camp tomorrow for a few days and is so excited - her first camp away on her own, and things like rock climbing, abseiling and flying fox to try! If your kids are on holidays too, I hope they have a restful and enjoyable break.

Thanks for calling in. Have a good weekend!

Cheers

Kez

Poster Fun

Remember this poster that I "helped" DD17 with? She proudly announced today that it received a mark of 100%! Yay! Homework was never this much fun when I was at high school! (Yes, I can just hear DD11 thinking about dinosaur's roaming the school halls .....)

Cheers

Kez

Watercolour Technique Class

This week's class looks at different methods of watercolouring. Card one uses what I call the "spritz watercolour" method and has also been called foolproof watercolouring! It is lots of fun to experiment with and very easy to do. Using shimmer paper gives it a lovely sheen, but whisper white works too and watercolour paper would as well. I ALWAYS use waterproof black StazOn ink for watercolouring. We'll make a card similar to this one

Created by Kez. Stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

For card two we will be using inks and watercolour paper. With this method I use markers for highlighting (I just LOVE how everything SU colour co-ordinates!).

Created by Kez. Stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

Materials used:

• stamps - A Kind Word, Best Yet (level 1 hostess)
• cardstock - Baja Breeze, Sahara Sand, Apricot Appeal
• papers - Sweet Slumber Speciality DSP, watercolour paper
• other - Baja Breeze ribbon, dimensionals, aquapainter, nestabilities, Big Shot

Card three is a flower pot card; such fun to make and so pretty to give away! The roses have been stamped on Whisper White and coloured with watercolour crayons, then ink is used over the top of the crayons for highlighting. The pink has come up a bit light in the photo; it is slightly darker IRL.

Created by Kez. Stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

Materials used:

• stamps - Fifth Avenue Floral, Best Yet, A Rose Is A Rose
• cardstock - Really Rust, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White
• other - Pretty in Pink ribbon, dotted ribbon from stash, Martha Stewart lace doily punch, Big Shot, Swiss Dots embossing folder

You've just gotta love Fifth Avenue Floral - looks great any which way you use it!

Our last technique is fun too - colour the stamp with markers then spray it with water before stamping. This method looks great with the new silhouette stamps.

Created by Kez. Stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

Materials used:

• stamps - Upsy Daisy, Best Yet, Friendly Words jumbo wheel
• card - perfect plum, pale plum, old olive, watercolour, very vanilla
• other - markers (perfect plum, pale plum, old olive), 35 mm circle punch, 38 mm circle punch (non SU), dimensionals, old olive wide grosgrain ribbon, water spray bottle

Thanks for calling in. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Cheers

Kez

Christmas with a Twist

The new challenge for this month over at Marelle's blog is Christmas with a Twist. The idea is to make a Christmas card using:

• non traditional colours, or
• non Christmas stamp sets, or
• both!

Now, as luck would have it, I have just finished making and mailing 12 such cards after taking part in a swap with other SU demos with the exact same theme, so this challenge is a piece of cake! Here is my entry:

I used the swirl from Baroque Motifs in Old Olive for the tree branches. Boho Backgrounds was used for the designs on the baubles, using Versamark ink and white embossing powder on Riding Hood Red cardstock. Circle punches of various sizes made the baubles and the small and large oval punches were used for the "hanging part". Gold cord was tied on and attached at the back. The sentiment is from that fantastic hostess set, Best Yet.

Here's another Christmas card, one that we are making in my Stamp-a-Stack at the end of this month. The design is inspired by a card by Karen Thomas and if you would like to learn how to make this gorgeous card, I have two spots left!

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Possession

DD17 had to make a poster for a school assignment and asked for my help with the decoration. She wanted it to look "antique" and fit the era of the related texts she had to quote. Well! I had a ball sponging and antiquing and stamping! I even got DD17 sponging and she is not usually into craft AT ALL, but said that she did enjoy that particular project!

Here are some photos of the poster:

I used tim Holtz antique linen distress ink to "age" papers and DD17 used a tea bag for the poster page. Colours used in accents were creamy caramel, really rust, close to cocoa and bordering blue and I used the damask stamp from Friends 24-7 with En Francais background stamp.

I hope she has another poster to do soon - I had fun with her homework!!!!

Cheers

Kez

Cobwebs and pearls

As I mentioned yesterday, I am going to Christchurch soon for a visit. While I am there I will be teaching a workshop to my old friends at the Calligraphy Society and I have been working very hard on the projects we'll be doing. I don't want to spoil it for them and show you all the GORJUS goodies now, but here's a couple of sneak peeks at what I have in store for them ...

Dusted quite a few cobwebs off my calligraphy skills for this one ... it has been a while! I bet the clever ones among you can guess which Tilda I've used!

Some classic elegance in this lovely set, which come in a super GORJUS container!

Well, enough of a spoiler! I'm off to browse the new Spring mini catalogue ready for pre-ordering tomorrow - one of the many perks of being a demo, te he! Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kez

Heart and Home

I have lived in Australia for 12 years now and I think I am definitely acclimatised to the weather. The first winter we were here, I wore a t-shirt the whole time, occasionally putting on a jumper on really cold nights. No hats, scarves, gloves, etc. Everyone around me was running around in layers of clothing saying "Isn't it cold?" and my reply was pretty much "No, it's not. You guys don't know what cold is!"

Now, I am not saying that Aus doesn't get cold. Heck, I can drive just 30 mins up the hill to Katoomba or Leura and there is snow and coldness aplenty. But we are pretty lucky here in our little neck of the woods and I think I can safely say that in those 12 years, we have had a frost on our back lawn less than half a dozen times. For a girl who came over from Christchurch, that is still an amazing thing!

What's my point? Well, you see, in just over a couple of weeks now, I am going back to Christchurch for a visit, and I have to truthfully admit that I am a little worried about how darn cold it is going to be! Yes, I am concerned at going from a place where 7 degrees is the lowest temperature of the day to a place where 7 degrees can be the highest temperature of the day!!! Christchurch in the middle of winter; what was I thinking????

Still, I wouldn't miss it for the world. I have lived in Christchurch on three separate occasions so far in my nomadic existence, and to me it's a very special place. So today's craft offering is a scrapbook layout I made some years back about this beautiful Garden City.

Created by Kez.

And although of course, when you talk about heart and home it is always where your loved ones are, if we are talking about a place - just one place that is more special than any other - then my journalling says it for me, for Christchurch will always be 'the place my heart calls home'.

Cheers

Kez

Playing Truant

I should have been working this morning (housework, that is - yuk!) but I was up early and began making a Tri-Fold Shutter card that I've seen on so many blogs ... and then I was hooked! You know what it's like .......!

So here are a few views. Closed up, this is the front (fits in a standard C6 envelope):

Created by Kez. Some stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

I don't have the stamp set that goes with this paper (although I feel a "yet" coming on!) so I cut the flower from the paper and used a punch for the little ones. Here it is opened up so you can see all the folds:

Created by Kez. Some stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

Laying flat (well, flat-ish):

It didn't start out as a Magnolia card, the little girl image was actually the last thing I added, but this little Sweetheart Tilda was just the perfect shape for that space, you have to agree!

Well, I guess I'd better go and get that housework done now! Thanks for calling in today.

Cheers

Kez

Baseball's a Summer sport, right?

I was going to make an Edwin card for the Magnolia Down Under 'all about a boy' theme this past week, but didn't get the time. I still wanted to make the boy card, so I've used it for the Just Magnolia challenge instead, which this week has a summer theme. Baseball's a summer sport, right? I happened upon these great baseball buttons and wanted to pair them with Edwin in Baseball Cap, which so far is my only boy Magnolia stamp.

SU's Washington Apple papers made a good background, especially with shapes that could become 'baseball diamonds' and stitching reminiscent of the stitching on the ball ... well, that's the theory anyway! Excuse the quality of the photo - I took it in the last dying stages of daylight!

Hope you've all had a restful Sunday and have had the chance to "play" too!

Cheers

Kez

Thinking Outside The Square

Hooray! I have finally had a go at making a card that is NOT square or rectangular! I have a heap of cards and projects to make and prepare for upcoming workshops, but I decided today would be just for fun.

I used nestabilities and my Big Shot to make the scallop circle card and the circles, putting a vellum circle over the rose paper (Bella Rose DSP) so that it wasn't too overpowering. Tilda was coloured using inks, crayons, markers and my aquapainter. I have been watching videos on YouTube on colouring techniques, so let me know if you think I've improved any!

My trusty Bow Tying Machine was used for the bow at the top, which really is supposed to disguise the flat bit where the fold is, but a bigger bow got in the way of Tilda's face, so I messed up there! The sentiment was stamped direct to the vellum using StazOn ink and the faux stitching was done with a white gel pen. I did actually try stamping Tilda on vellum and colouring it, but discovered that although crayons work on vellum, the moisture buckles it and makes a big mess!

Created by Kez. Some stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

Hopefully I will manage to be back later with more fun things, but just in case I don't make it, have a great day and remember - today is the middle of the year; Christmas is just around the corner! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers

Kez

Waiting My Turn

DD11 got an SU gift voucher for her recent birthday and the set she picked to order was Pun Fun (that sock monkey came in a close second though!). Of course she threw my own rules regarding new rubber in my face and wouldn't let me use her new set to make a card until she had made one herself! I had to WAIT MY TURN!!!!!! I just don't know what the children of today are coming to .... LOL!!!

So here are our very first Pun Fun cards. DD11's is first, with a cute little alien peeking out over the top of the planet, take a lookie:

Then I was graciously allowed a turn; I was dying to use this fab paper I had found the other day and thought was PERFECT. I just made a very simple card:
My second card (although I got in a little trouble for using Love you a latte before DD11 did!) makes my girls laugh, as I HATE coffee! Hate the smell, hate the taste, hate kissing anyone with "coffee breath"! Both my girls drink coffee and tease me about it constantly! Luckily I love hot chocolate, so I can enjoy a visit to our local Gloria Jeans just as much as they do!

The alien paper is by Crate paper; rockets by Moxxie; coffee paper is by Flair Designs - I don't even remember buying it or why I would have bought coffee paper, but there you go! The brown stripe is an old SU paper from the Recollections pack and I've used my beloved nestabilities.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend. Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

A Note for Lara from the US

Thanks for your message; the stick figures on the cards are made by a stamp set called All in the Family by Stampin' Up! and are available from your nearest SU demonstrator. The sentiments are a complimentary stamp set called Family Phrases.

While we are on the subject, if you have a specific question or query about a product I have used that you would like me to answer, please email me direct rather than through comments, as I don't get your email address to reply to if you leave a comment only.

Thanks!
Kez

Wild About Challenges

It seems like a while since I had a go at a challenge, so I've done a double-up and combined Kristina Werner's colour challenge

with the Mojo Monday sketch for this weekThe colours are bright and cheerful, so I picked a fun stamp set to use them with; Wild About You. I've used Baja Breeze as my sky blue, as Soft Sky is too pale for the effect I wanted. Luckily I found some flowers and brads among my stash that matched the colours reasonably well too! Here tis:
Unfortunately, by the time I got this done Kristina's challenge had closed! Ah well, there's always next week. Thanks for dropping by. See ya!

Cheers
Kez

Magic

Yay! Teneale has put her secret message sliding thingy card on her blog, so pop on over and take a look; it is just magical! Here's the link: http://www.tenealewilliams.com.au/wp02/2009/06/14/honey-i-am-home

Busy weekend and busy today, so maybe tomorrow I might get the chance to play.

Have a good one!

Cheers
Kez

Sneak peek

Here's a sneaky peeky at the lovely cards we made at Teneale's class last night. Can't reveal the ingenious secret message sliding thingy just yet, but it will be worth the wait!

I had to get Teneale to tie my bows for me of course - well, you all know how bow tying challenged I am! If I'd known there were bows involved, I would have taken my trusty bow tying machine along! I see there is a bow magic available in the craft stores now - my trusty machine is ahead of its time, LOL!!!!

Thanks for dropping by!

Cheers

Kez

What a night!

I have had the most amazing night tonight!

Firstly, I went to a class with Teneale Williams, who has just returned from a triumphant sojourn at the papercraft festival in Brisbane. We made the most amazing cards with a secret message sliding thingy - impossible to describe but fantastically ingenious when you see it. I forgot to ask if I'm allowed to show it to you before she puts it on her own blog, so will check with her. They are so creative and we used one of my favourite SU sets, A Kind Word.

Then when I got home and quickly cruised my usual sites and blogs, I found that my card for Magnolia Down Under Challenge 14 - see it here - was picked in the Top 3 entries. I was absolutely flabbergasted - just as well I was sitting down! I am so chuffed, the card was a lot of work but I was so pleased with how it turned out and it is such a great feeling to hear that others like it too! Sigh! I'm a happy little vegemite!!! So soon I will be proudly displaying a Top 3 blinkie badge! Yay! I encourage all of you Magnolia fans out there to have a go at the MDU challenges, they are lots of fun and stretch your imagination and creativity.

Back soon hopefully with something to show you, I am just struggling at the moment to get my project to work like I want it to.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Cheers
Kez

Bill and Ben, eat your hearts out!

If you are a card blog surfer like me, you will have seen some Flower Pot Cards around on a number of overseas sites, and wow! how darn stinkin' cute are they? I finally got around to trying them and I LOVE THEM!!!!! They are smaller than they look in the photos and so incredibly adorable! You can use so many different flowers and colours and patterns ... the list is endless. If you haven't tried one of these, I recommend you do (look for the tutorial here at splitcoaststampers) and you will find they are VERY ADDICTIVE!

Here are my trial ones:

Created by Kez. Stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

Created by Kez. Stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

Then I tried one with native flowers, but the proportions are all wrong and it doesn't work, unfortunately.

Created by Kez. Stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

DD17 loved my first one and asked for one in her favourite SU colour, Ballet Blue. Here's her flowerpot:

Created by Kez. Stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

I can see I might have to find a way to wangle these in to a workshop or two in the near future .....!!!

Thanks for stopping by. Incredibly cold here today, so I hope you are keeping warm, wherever you are.

Cheers

Kez

Cute little stick figures after all these years

I have no artistic talent whatsoever for drawing. None. At all. Seriously. When I taught high school, I occasionally drew stick figures to illustrate a topic, but would always get a hard time from my students about my drawing. My attempts at drawing sheep were legend! Now I have had a play with a stamp set that solves all my stick figure issues!

One of my hostesses this month has the set All in the Family and wanted some ideas for cards, so I searched splitcoaststampers to find some inspiration. These little characters are rather cute - and five hundred percent better than mine were - but I did find them a lot fiddlier than I expected, even using my wonderful stamp-a-ma-jig!

This was one of the easiest bodies to use, as the hands and feet came attached already! The design is simple and can easily be changed for a boy.

Created by Kez. Stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

My hostess loves bold, bright colours, so this next one will be a hit with her, I'm sure.

Created by Kez. Stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

And lastly my favourite, cos those baby faces are just so darn cute! Unfortunately the colours didn't photograph well - my bad.

Created by Kez. Stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

If you are similarly afflicted with Stick Figure Syndrome, here's the perfect set for you! LOL! Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kez

Birthday fishes

Ever since we made one at stamp camp, I've been wanting to do a "gel card" using my favourite water buddies, the now retired Fishy Friends. I've been waiting for the arrival of a sea floor background stamp I ordered and it finally came on Tuesday, just in time! DD-turns-11-tomorrow dropped a few hints about wanting a "gel card" for her birthday, so yesterday I got busy. I brayered the ocean background first on one piece of whisper white, stamped the sea floor on another piece and added it over the top. Then the two little fish were raised with dimensionals. Here tis:

Created by Kez. Some stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

I had some trouble with the gel bag, though, as the first one I used burst on me and I had a wet, sticky mess everywhere! Luckily it didn't affect the picture, or I would have had to start all over again! I kinda like this one, I gotta say, so I'm glad it's staying in the family!!! LOL!

Thanks for swimming by! Have a good one!

Cheers
Kez

Up at the crack of dawn

'Moving to the country' is this week's theme at the Magnolia Down Under Challenge, so I've used three Magnolia stamps plus one little Stampin' Up! one and had fun with my brayer and sponges. Very simple, but I hope it conveys a country feel.

I tried out some Michelle Zindorf-style techniques for this card. I stamped the stile and signpost first, coloured them (watercolour crayons and markers) and then clear embossed them (using a Versamark pen). Then the brayer background went in (sunrise colours to signify getting up at the crack of dawn!) with the grass area being masked, then rubbed off the ink from the embossed images. Tilda with puppy was stamped on another piece then cut out and "sat" upon her seat and a bit more green grass sponged in around the base.

Hope ya like it. Ya'all come back now, ya hear!

Cheers
Kez

Colour of the year

So Saffron has got to be the colour of the year, I think. It goes so well with so many other colours in DSP combinations this year, and today I discovered that I love it with almost amethyst. When a parcel on my doorstep announced the arrival of two new goodies, I had to have a play - naturally - and decided to use some Tea Party papers and the ab fab Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set. I've only inked up the rose so far, so thought it time I gave the lily a go! Here's how it turned out (just excuse my crappy photography!):

Created by Kez. Stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

My two new goodies? Nestabilities Labels Four and Martha Stewart doily lace edge punch. I love them already; I think that punch is already on its way up to join SU's eyelet border as my favs.

The verse is one I've always loved but couldn't understand why it came with a masculine set (For Father, retired) as it is so sentimental - something blokes usually try to avoid like the plague!!! LOL!

Thanks for stopping by. Till next time!

Cheers

Kez

Brayer and watercolour workshops

Some of my regular ladies have requested workshops in brayering and watercolouring, so I'm offering them to anyone else out there in the greater Sydney area who may be interested. You can come to one that is scheduled in my spacious workshop, or if you have a small group of friends who would like to learn too, I can come to you (within reason!).

Brayer workshops: Tuesday 9th June 10.00 am or Saturday 13th June 2.00 pm

Watercolouring workshops: Tuesday 7th July 10.00 am or Saturday 11th July 2.00 pm

Let me know if you are interested and I'll be happy to arrange something to suit.

Cheers
Kez

Marelle's May Challenge

Marelle posted a catalogue challenge to her team and everyone who reads her blog - check it out here. Basically, we CASE a card from the catalogue and then change colours, stamps, etc - in other words, use the IDEA BOOK and catalogue for IDEAS!!!!

So, here is the card I CASEd directly from page 141 of the catalogue:

Stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

And here are my "mark two" and "mark three" versions:

Created by Kez. Stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

Created by Kez. Stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

Supplies used (all SU):

• stamps - A Rose Is A Rose, Short & Sweet, Best Yet
• card and papers - Pink Pirouette textured card, Tangerine Tango textured card, Bella Rose DSP, Haiku DSP, So Saffron card, Whisper White
• inks - Pink Pirouette, Kiwi Kiss, Old Olive
• ribbon - Riding Hood Red taffeta, Old Olive grosgrain
• other - dimensionals, scallop edge punch, eyelet border punch, sponge daubers, wide oval punch

Check out Marelle's blog and see the other challenge entries. Thanks for dropping by!

Cheers

Kez

Same card three ways

Yesterday I showed a card I had CASEd from Marelle and today I wanted to play and give it different looks. So here are three cards I have made this morning - in only one hour (three cards in an hour? gotta love that!) - using the same design and same stamp set.

Card one: pastel and pretty

Created by Kez. Stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

Card two: blokey bright

Created by Kez. Stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

Card three: country charm

Created by Kez. Stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

Supplies used (all SU):

• cardstock - certainly celery, pumpkin pie, riding hood red, so saffron, bashful blue, pretty in pink, whisper white
• papers - Tea Party DSP, Sweet Slumber Speciality DSP, Jersey Shore DSP (retired)
• ribbon - certainly celery, pretty in pink, pumpkin pie, baja breeze
• stamps - Party Hearty
• other - dimensionals, large oval punch, 32 mm and 35 mm circle punches, small tag punch, 3/4" punch, sponge dauber, markers, so saffron brad

So, here's a challenge for you! Pick a card you have already made and CASE yourself to create a variety of cards using the same stamp set. It is SO MUCH FUN!!!!! and hey! fun is what card making is all about!

Cheers
Kez

Here we go again

I had the most amazing time yesterday - a mother and daughter workshop with no less than 15 people present! It was an incredibly busy few hours for me, but such a buzz with so many happy stampers and being able to share the pleasure I get from card making and using the wonderful Stampin' Up! products. I had used dazzling diamonds on one of the cards but had forgotten about the effect of girls and sparkles! So my poor hostess had rather a glittery floor afterwards! Sorry Michelle, and thanks again for such a fun afternoon!

And now, back to earth with another round of family birthdays fast approaching, in fact three birthdays over three days in a row! So another batch of birthday cards to make so I can choose good ones for the intended recipients.

First off the rank I decided to case the following card made by my wonderful upline, Marelle.

Marelle has made some lovely cards with this set, Party Hearty, and she MADE me get it! When I looked through my stamps, I found hardly any that don't need colouring in (you all know how much I ADORE colouring in!) and thought I really should have something, and the variety of cards Marelle made sold me. If you haven't seen them on her blog, go check them out.

Her sample is a masculine card but I had my niece in mind, so changed the colours and tossed in some of the new designer papers called Pink Flamingo. Not my cup of tea at all, cos you know I am NOT a bold brights fan whatsoever, but I had got these for DD17. As luck would have it, they co-ordinate with real red and tempting turquoise, which are the only two bold brights inks I own! With the design done for me, it took only minutes to put the card together - you might wanna put some sunnies on though, cos boy! it's a bright one!

It got a big thumbs up from both of my girls and even DH likes it, although he totally destroyed all credibility by asking if it was for a boy! I had to point out that I don't usually make cards with flowers and pink for boys! SERIOUSLY!!!!! LOL!

More birthday cards coming over the next few days, so if you like what you see, call back again!

Cheers

Kez

PS Many thanks for all your kind comments re DD10's Magnolia card. She is totally chuffed at the lovely things you had to say.

DD10's very first magnolia challenge

Here's another Magnolia card for the MDUC flutterby challenge, made by my gorgeous DD10 for her very first ever challenge entry. She made the entire card completely by herself, took the photo herself and loaded it on to the computer herself!

She used watercolour crayons with an aquapainter to colour and the butterflies are punched first in cardstock, then in vellum, and I am so proud of her effort. Please let her know if you like it!

Cheers

Basketful of Flutterbies

Another hectic week, but as netball was cancelled today, I had time to madly make a card for this week's challenge at Magnolia Down Under. The theme is "flutter by butterflies" and let's face it, who doesn't love butterflies? Here I've used Tilda with a basketful of flowers and just replaced the flowers with a host of pretty "flutterbies". The circle behind Tilda is also clear embossed with butterflies.

Ain't she "purty"?!!! A couple of my mates are freaked out by Tilda and friends having no mouth or nose, but I can't see the issue - she is just so adorable! I think we need a "toot your horn if you love Tilda" bumper sticker!!! LOL!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheers

Kez

Protect yourself!

Before you go any further, prop some cushions or pillows all around you ... you are gonna want a soft landing when you fall over with shock!!! Why? Because after a break of about 6 months (and that was for a workshop), I have created a scrapbook page!!!!!!!!! Oops! there you go! are you OK? did the pillows break your fall? Phew! just as well I warned you!

Two things have prompted me to dust the cobwebs off my scrapbooking skills: (a) it is National Scrapbooking Month (and I couldn't take the guilt!) and (b) the totally GOJUS designer papers SU have this year. OK, three things - (c) the May special on designer papers!

In spite of the price increase from last year, these papers are still excellent value for money - for $17 you get 12 sheets of double sided paper, which works out at around $1.42 per sheet. And this month's special works out to be $1.06 per sheet! You will easily pay $2 or $2.50 per sheet in your LSS and they DON'T have colour co-ordinated cardstock, ink, ribbon, brads, buttons, etc. (Have I mentioned how much I LOVE SU?!)

Now, all of this espousing the virtues of the new DSP is going to seem a little strange when you see my layout, because the larger papers I've used are now retired! But there are two current ones in there, and rest assured there will be more pages to follow! So, drumroll please, in honour of this highly auspicious occasion - ta da!

Supplies used:

• cardstock - basic black (textured), sahara sand
• papers - Spring Showers (retired), Sweet Slumber speciality, Windsor Knot
• punch - word window
• other - chipboard hearts from On Board Essentials, dimensionals, sponge daubers, black journalling pen, black heart brad (stash), white gel pen

Thanks for dropping by. With all those pillows around you, you might as well leave the housework and just keep blog hopping ... much more fun!

Cheers

Kez

Vampires on the loose

This week's challenge at Cinema Saturday is a gem! The girls and I all love the books and we've seen the movie a number of times - and yes, we have the 2-disc special edition DVD. The quote I have used I found on someone's blog and I love it, so it was the natural choice to be my inspiration. We had to use some red and black and some bling.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a good day.

Cheers
Kez

Heartstrings

Regular visitors may recall these mini backpacks I made for my girls when they went back to school at the beginning of the year. DD17 has kindly lent me hers to use as a sample for workshops, but DD-almost-11 has found a sweet and novel use for hers ....

As you know, my younger daughter has type 1 diabetes and in February began on an insulin pump. Something that has been a part of her everyday life is always having with her, her blood glucose testing kit and some fast acting carbohydrates in case of a hypo. She carries these around in a little backpack (in her favourite green!).

So, today I found sitting in the lounge, a favourite teddy of DD10s, together with her lovely new accessories ...

The mini backpack is now a copy of DD10s, and the little cardboard box is teddy's "insulin pump" complete with infusion set and cannula inserted in her tummy. Pulls at my heartstrings, I gotta tell ya.

Have a wonderful day everyone.

Kez

Inspiration comes to she who waits

Unusually for me - most unusually in fact - there's a stamp set I've had for quite a while and not inked up until today! I know! It's incredible! And I broke my own New Rubber Rule!!! But the set is sooooooo gorgeous and I was sadly lacking in inspiration for how to do it justice. Which one is it, you ask? Friends 24/7, another of Shelli's Signature Collection.

Then I was looking at this card on Marelle's blog and the way she used the damask stamp and 'here for you' stamp as a background, stamped at random and overlapped, finally gave me inspiration.

Created by Kez. Stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

I stamped on linen textured cardstock, which gives it almost a fabric look, and used plenty of sponging around the edges to give even more of an antique air. The font style of the sentiment fits in nicely with the look I was after, as do the colours of pale plum, perfect plum and basic grey. Finally, a card I am happy with for my first inking of this set! Hope you like it too!

Cheers

Kez

Everything's coming up roses

Alright, I give up! C'mon! It's not fair to have so many gorgeous samples on so many blogs and not expect me to cave and buy the set! I admit it, I am weak! You know I just HAD TO HAVE Fifth Avenue Floral - how could I resist any longer?!!!!!

So, in line with the NRR (that's New Rubber Rule), I had to play with it straight away! This first card is just a run of the mill watercolouring using watercolour crayons in pale plum and perfect plum. For the background I stamped the image repeatedly using Versamark ink.

Created by Kez. Stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

The next card uses a watercolouring technique I saw on Patti Bennett's blog and was originally created by Crystal French. They used shimmer cardstock which SU here doesn't carry, so I've substituted regular whisper white. Also, the instructions say use whisper white ink and clear embossing powder, but I found (trial and error) that white embossing powder gives a nicer finish. It is a lot of fun and you can get spectacular colours, so what are you waiting for? Go on, pop over and watch the video tutorial, then give it a try!

Created by Kez. Stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

And my third card uses inks on watercolour paper and this time I've stepped out of my square and used orange tones - pumpkin pie and tangerine tango.

Created by Kez. Stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

Hope your day is coming up roses too!

Cheers

Kez

Pink for Lauren

Had a little time to spare this morning while my DDs made me breakfast for Mother's Day, so I whipped up a card. A friend asked me to make a card for her daughter's upcoming birthday and she chose this lovely Sarah Kay stamp. I've used the gorgeous Candy Lane papers with it, they are simply irresistable!

Watercolouring on whisper white with watercolour crayons and inks. If you'd like to see a neat colouring technique, pop on over to this entry on Teneale's blog. Thanks for dropping by!

Cheers

Kez

Making me thirsty!

It's been a while since I've tried one of Kristina Werner's colour challenges, so I thought I'd give it a burl. I was lucky enough to find a stamp set I thought suited these colours:

Here's what I ended up with:

Created by Kez. Stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

That drink looks awfully good - wonder if there's anything more mustard coloured in my liquor cupboard?!!! LOL!

Have a wonderful Mother's Day tomorrow all you mums out there.

Cheers

Kez

A Simple Magnolia for Mum

This week's challenge at Magnolia Down Under is, naturally, a Mother's Day theme. I lost my mum to cancer a couple of years ago but I have made a card I know she would have loved as it uses her favourite colours.

Mum was a redhead and in practically all of my memories of her, she wore earthy tones - browns, oranges, greens and creams - with no fuss or frills, just plains or geometric designs. These gorgeous papers from SU are absolutely perfect, as is Magnolia's Tilda with fall flowers.

Created by Kez. Some stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

Miss you mum.

Kez

The Times They Are A Changing

The big news from Convention this year is that our "SU year" will be changing. Instead of a catalogue running from 1st April to 31st March, as from 2010 it will run from 1st September to 31st August. This will mean that SU can:

• release new products closer to the time they are released in the United States;
• keep all product offerings, including In Colors, accessories, and stamp sets, more closely linked to our offering in the US;
• help demonstrators offer popular products in a more timely fashion.

So the new catalogue we have now will run right through until the end of August next year, and there will be THREE mini catalogues during that transition period to keep up with new sets and hostess offerings!

Sale-A-Bration times are also changed - this great promotion will run from 25th January through to 31st March.

Wowser! It will sure be nice not to have to wait so long for all the gojus things we see released in the US!

Cheers

Kez

Busy as a bee

It seems like ages since I last posted but it's only been four days! I have been as busy as the proverbial bee, which is why I made up this card:

Created by Kez. Stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

Aren't they just the cutest darn bees you've ever seen?! Just couldn't resist their cuteness after seeing some gorgeous cards on overseas blogs (this one is inspired by a card by Tamara MCalla). Hopefully this set will make it to one of our mini catalogues in the not too distant future ....

Supplies used:

• stamps - Just Buzzin' By
• paper & card - basic grey, riding hood red, so saffron and whisper white cardstock; sweet slumber speciality DSP
• other - riding hood red and so saffron grosgrain ribbons, 32 mm circle punch, 35 mm circle punch, scallop circle punch, scallop edge punch, dazzling diamonds, crystal effects, dimensionals

Thanks for buzzin' by!

Cheers

Kez

Magnolia Mojo

Well after FINALLY getting some P&Q I got a card made for two challenges. The theme at Magnolia Down Under this week is spot the dots and I also used the sketch from Mojo Monday.

This is Tilda holding fall flowers, so that inspired me to use all Earth Elements colours - ruby red, not quite navy, close to cocoa, chocolate chip, old olive, more mustard and pumpkin pie.

Thanks for dropping by!

Cheers

Kez