Monthly Christmas Cheer

Our Christmas stamp-a-stack cards for this month are a mix of old and new as well as dark, dramatic tones and light, elegant hues.

Here's our first:

I cut a window from crumb cake, embossed it with Subtle for some texture, then stamped and white embossed the sentiment. Behind that is some of the lovely Twinkle, Twinkle DSP and a Bethlehem die. Add the shepherd and a glittery star, and voila! Isn't that paper amazing? I love the soft swirls that look so realistic.

Materials used:

• stamps - Night in Bethlehem, Star of Light
• dies - Bethlehem edgelits, rectangle framelit
• card - night of navy, crumb cake, whisper white, white glitter, Twinkle, Twinkle DSP
• other - Subtle embossing folder, Big Shot, Dimensionals, sponge dauber, glue

And our second card uses classic colours of cherry cobbler, vanilla and gold.

Here I've use the Tufted embossing folder, then lightly distressed the edges and outlined them with gold embossing powder. Gold foil leaves and gold pearls give the poinsettia some contrast and the stitched framelit goes perfectly with the quilted look.

Materials used:

• stamps - Stylish Christmas
• dies - Stitched Seasons framelits
• card - very vanilla, gold foil
• other - embossing buddy, Tufted embossing folder, Big Shot, Dimensionals, gold pearls, glue, scissors

It's hard to believe there's only one more stamp-a-stack class left. Christmas is coming waaaaaay too fast!

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kerry

I'm Baaaaaack!

Howdy doodly! I'm back in Oz after two weeks away and ten lovely days spent on our new-to-us boat in France. The weather was warm and sunny pretty much every day, so it's a bit of a shock to be back wearing a jumper again, I gotta tell ya!

Here's some pics for you of our sojourn; firstly DH and I on board. I'm out in the cockpit while he's in the galley (yep, he did indeed cook a few meals and do some dishes!)

 Here's DH standing proudly in possession

A couple of shots of Pornic

This one is my fav; I captured the sunset over the starboard bow on my last night

And if there's any other Star Wars geeks out there, you might appreciate what tickled my fancy about this sign I saw on some robotic toys at the duty free shop in Dubai International Airport

LOL

So, I have made a couple of cards since my return, but they're for upcoming Christmas stamp-a-stack classes, so I'll post them at a later date. Meanwhile, I hope you're enjoying the gorgeous goodies in the new Holiday Catalogue and look forward to browsing around some blogs to see what everyone's doing with them.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez

Going Offline and Off On Holiday

Bonjour! Comment ca va?

Okay, pardon my French, but I'm getting excited because tomorrow I'm off to France! Yes, we are finally going to take ownership of our yacht; she's currently berthed in a place called Pornic, which is in western France on the Bay of Biscay, just where the Loire river reaches the ocean.

I'm flying to Paris and having a couple of nights there before catching a train to Pornic, where hubby will meet me (he's in the Netherlands on business at the moment) and we'll get to see our boat 'in the flesh' for the first time. Excited much? Oh yeah. Mind you, it's been a good thirty-mumble-something years (ahem) since I flew to the other side of the globe, so I'm not particularly looking forward to being squished in a seat for 24 hours, but hey! totally worth it.

While I'm away, internet connection is likely to be sketchy - we don't know what facilities the marina has - so I doubt I'll be posting much, if at all. Needless to say I won't be doing any card making, lol. Rest assured, though, I'll catch you up once I get back Down Under. So while I'm gone, stay safe and happy crafting.

Cheers
Kez

You Can Help Save Christmas

Well, okay, not save Christmas literally, but help me out with a Christmas dilemma!

Here's the scoop: I recently bought SU's lovely 'Stylish Christmas' stamp set, wanting to use it for my next month's stamp-a-stack class. I had an eclipse design in mind and was reasonably happy with the finished card. Here tis:

 

Materials used:

• stamps - Stylish Christmas
• card - merry merlot, mossy meadow, very vanilla
• inks - merry merlot, mossy meadow
• other - PEACE die-namics die (MFT), crystalina Kindy Glitz, mounting strips, Big Shot

Then I came across a card by Shelly Godby which I loved and wanted to try out - it uses the utterly stunning Tufted deep embossing folder, so really, how could I resist? Here's my version of her card:

Materials used:

• stamps - Stylish Christmas
• card - shaded spruce, whisper white, gold foil
• inks - merry merlot, shaded spruce, pool party
• other - Dimensionals, scissors, Stamparatus, Tufted embossing folder, Big Shot, gold rhinestones

My dilemma is that now I can't decide which card to use for the class! We can't do both because there's only one stamp set to be shared among five ladies making five cards each. It just isn't feasible. And I know we could do one next month and one the month after, but I still need to decide which! Sooooo, help me out here! Leave me a comment telling me which you prefer and why (and it would be really helpful if my class ladies did this too!) to make it easier for me to pick.

Thanks in advance for your help and thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez

#IBlameItOnJennifer

I've said it before and I'll say it again - Jennifer McGuire is an enabler! LOL.

She's also one very talented lady and if you don't already subscribe to her YouTube channel, I thoroughly recommend you do. It was one of her excellent videos that alerted me to the myriad of ways you can use 3D embossing folders.

Here's my attempt at CASEing one of hers:

Materials used:

• stamps - none
• card - whisper white, soft sea foam
• inks - soft sea foam, garden green
• other - subtle embossing folder, Big Shot, frame dies (stash), brayer, Tim Holtz 3D texture embossing folder 'Botanical', mounting tape

I inked up the inside of my embossing folder before running it through the Big Shot, then ran a brayer very lightly over the top of my embossed piece with a darker ink.

And here's another one: 

This folder isn't quite as deep as the Tim Holtz one so my background ink is slightly patchy, but I like to think it adds to the effect (well, that's what I'm going to tell myself, lol). I've deliberately left the sentiment at 'Happy' as I like to think it could be for a number of uses - happy birthday, happy for you, you make me happy, etc - the rest can be added inside. You're limited only by your imagination! 

Not my best photos, sorry. However, are you loving SU's Subtle embossing folder as much as I am? It gives great texture to your backgrounds and lives up to its name perfectly.

Materials used:

• stamps - none
• card - daffodil delight, basic grey, whisper white
• inks - daffodil delight
• other - happy die (Altenew), Sizzix 3D embossing folder 'Floral Blossom', Big Shot, stitched rectangle framelits, mounting tape, mini glue dots, metallics sequin assortment, subtle embossing folder

You can watch Jennifer's video HERE on creative uses of embossing folders. If you're like me, you'll soon be ordering some 3D goodies to play with!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez

Thankful, Blessed and a Wee Bit Red-faced

Thank you so much to everyone who left comments on my last post, I really appreciate them. After receiving an email from Phyllis, who was having trouble leaving remarks, I went in to my blogspot settings.

Now, years ago I set up my settings to notify me of comments (via email) for verification, after a rash of spam comments cropped up. I haven't ever changed those settings and I did used to receive emails each and every time someone left a comment, which I would then publish.

However, I discovered today that for some unknown reason I have not been receiving those notifications and there were a flurry of unpublished comments waiting for me! So, to those of you who have attempted to leave a kind word or two, I humbly apologise. Hopefully you'll now see that those are now visible. If you still have trouble, please send me an email (the link is over on the right) to let me know so I can investigate what's going on! And thanks to Phyllis for alerting me to the problem.

That said, I kept my word and did a round of comment-leaving myself, even following links from cards I've pinned from Pinterest and leaving some love for those creative folks who put their beautiful cards out there for us to see. I'll endeavour to keep making that small contact with people who inspire me with their ingenuity and encourage you to do the same, knowing from experience how much a kind word can inspire and enthuse - as well, of course, as simply making you feel good.

I've got more lovely cards to show you but it's too late in the day now for photography, so that will have to wait, probably until Monday as I have a class tomorrow. Hope to welcome you back then - and don't forget the new buttons you can click on for a quick and painless way to leave feedback.

Thanks for dropping in.

Cheers
Kez

Cat Got Your Tongue? Or...fingers?

In this digital age where we're all so isolated, geographically, from each other, it's easy to lose the personal touch as well. For me and many thousands of others who 'put ourselves out there' by expressing our emotions, thoughts and feelings on a virtual page such as this, it can feel like a thankless task when you get absolutely no response from your 'audience'.

You see, it's difficult not to notice that so many of my recent posts have received no comments at all, and even a smattering of comments earlier were from my bestie alone. It used to be that there'd be a few comments of support, and that small amount of feedback nourishes the creative part of me and gives me incentive to create more. Honestly.

And I get it, I really do. I browse blogs as well and I don't always leave a comment. Sometimes the blogging platform itself makes that difficult if you have to 'sign up' to say anything. Sooooo, if an effort to make it easier for you, I've added some tick boxes at the end of each bog post - now all you have to do is simply click your mouse in one of the boxes and I'll get an idea of how much you like the card/s. But if you feel like leaving just a short message - even just to say hi from your corner of the globe - that would be wonderful and truly appreciated. In fact, why not resolve for just one day this week, this month, whatever, to leave a short comment on each and every blog you visit. You'll feel better for having reached out, won't you? For connecting with another human, even though you may never meet. And the blog owner will most definitely feel better, this I can say with complete and utter confidence.

In fact, I'm going to go blog hopping right now and spread some comment love as I go...

Here's a card to give you something to inspire box-ticking. You can even keep scrolling down and tick boxes for previous posts too - isn't technology clever?

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez

At the Crack of Dawn

Thursdays mean an early start for DD20; it takes about 2 hours for her to make the train and bus commute to uni in Sydney from the mountains, so this morning we were both up before the winter sun. As I was driving home again, I was treated to a stunningly gorgeous orange and yellow sunrise which made my fingers itch to get out my distress oxides.

My card is certainly no match for the beautiful vista that was laid before me, but I love it nonetheless.

Materials used:

• stamps - Wonderland
• card - whisper white, basic black, so saffron
• distress oxide inks - antique linen, squeezed lemonade, spiced marmalade, fired brick, black soot
• other - post it note, 32mm (1 1/4") circle punch, blending tool, mounting tape

I've kept it simple because, really, Mother Nature often needs no adornment. I hope the sunrise was as beautiful where you are. Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kez

I'm Singing Christmas Carols in my Head

It's time for our second batch of Christmas cards and this month we're featuring some of SU's lovely new designer series papers in a simple, symbiotic mix with non SU stamps and dies.

Materials used:

• stamps - Sparkle and Shine Holiday Additions (Papertrey Ink)
• card - garden green, soft sea foam, very vanilla, All is Bright DSP, red foil
• inks - garden green
• other - Sparkle and Shine dies (PTI), Big Shot, stitched rectangle dies (Poppycrafts), Dimensionals, Stamparatus

Materials used:

• stamps - Sparkle and Shine Holiday Additions (Papertrey Ink)
• card - whisper white, basic grey, All is Bright DSP, gold foil
• inks - basic grey
• other - Sparkle and Shine dies (PTI), Big Shot, stitched rectangle dies (Poppycrafts), Dimensionals, Stamparatus

I love these photorealistic papers, they're just gorgeous. There's plenty more beautiful things coming in the new Holiday catalogue too.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Into The Wild Blue Yonder

Hubby has a birthday coming up at the weekend, so naturally a card is called for. The theme was a total no-brainer this year - I'll explain that soon. Here's the card:

Materials used:

• stamps - Ocean Wisdom (Stampendous)
• SU card - night of navy, whisper white
• distress oxide inks - fossilised amber, spiced marmalade, worn lipstick, picked raspberry
• SU ink - night of navy
• dies - flying gulls (Frantic Stamper), marina sailboats (Poppystamps), nested stitched circles (Poppycrafts)
• other - water spritzer, Big Shot, radiating rays stencil (My Favourite Things), ink blender tools, MISTI, ruler, Sahara sand and not quite navy markers, Dimensionals

Why the nautical theme? Yeah, it's good for male cards and yes, hubby has done some sailing in the past. But mainly because...wait for it...we're buying a yacht! Yup, some time in the future (a year or two) we'll be packing up the house and sailing into the wild blue yonder, voyaging when and where we feel like it, seeing something of the world and enjoying a new adventure. Here's a pic of our boat and you'll see why I added some blue marker to the die cut.

She's presently moored in France and we're both heading off there later this month to take ownership and spend a few days on board exploring and looking at what work she needs before we spend more time on her. We're both very excited about it all!

So yeah, I'm pretty sure hubby's really going to enjoy his card!

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez

Elves Be Busy

As usual, July has seen the start of our Christmas card Stamp-a-stack classes and this month we played with some elves full of cuteness and impishness. Here are the two designs we made five each of:

Materials used:

• stamps - Santa's Elves (My Favourite Things), Wondrous Wreath
• card - whisper white, Bermuda bay, Bubbles and Fizz DSP, watercolour
• other - MFT dies, Big Shot, clear Wink of Stella, aqua painter, Dimensionals, markers, Stamparatus

Materials used:

• stamps - Santa's Elves (MFT), Christmas Messages
• card - whisper white, perfect plum, Merry Little Christmas DSP (First Edition), watercolour
• other - MFT dies, Big Shot, clear Wink of Stella, aqua painter, Dimensionals, markers, Stamparatus

Aren't they adorable? Impossible to resist, in my opinion.

So many new goodies in my craft room at the moment and I've been too busy with other things to get stamping, but hopefully that will change very soon and I'll be back with more creations.

Thanks for dropping in.

Cheers

Kez

Symbiosis

Isn't that a gorgeous word? It just rolls right off the tongue. I like to apply it in my crafting world as mixing SU product with other brands in a mutually beneficial relationship and today's first card is an example of that.

Materials used:

• stamps - Abstract Impressions, You Matter (Simon Says Stamp)
• card - whisper white, daffodil delight, basic black
• inks - daffodil delight, crushed curry, granny apple green, Tuxedo black
• other - SSS die, stitched scallop edge die (unknown origin), two-way glue pen, sponge, striped decorative mask, glitter epoxy shapes

I particularly love those roses in yellow, so cheerful. I cut two of the 'you' die and layered them for extra depth.

Here's another mutually beneficial relationship - it's My Favorite Things' mini cloud stencil paired with SU's Enjoy Life.

Materials used:

• stamps - Enjoy Life
• card - balmy blue, basic black, whisper white
• other - MFT mini cloud stencil, sponge, sponge daubers, Stamparatus, mounting tape

The next two cards are completely SU product but they are also wonderful pairings of products (in my humble opinion!).

Here's the gorgeous Serene Garden; a departure from my usual style, this set nonetheless caught my attention on my first browse through the new catalogue back in April and I finally succumbed to its allure.

Materials used:

• stamps - Serene Garden
• card - whisper white, pool party
• other - markers, Stampin' Blends, Dimensionals, mounting tape, Big Shot embossing mat, Garden Scene framelits, Big Shot

Another new item in the catalogue that caught my eye instantly is the Tufted embossing folder and I've finally managed to use it on this last card we'll be making at our next class. I absolutely love the combination of Bermuda bay and calypso coral.

This card has plenty of subtle shimmer - rather than spraying my card with water before deep embossing, I used shimmer mist instead and also added some clear Wink of Stella to the flowers. Don't recognise the lovely stitched die cut the flowers are on? It's a brand new item available to demos only this month but for everyone in August. 

Materials used:

• Itty Bitty Greetings, Love What You Do
• card - whisper white, Bermuda bay
• other - tufted embossing folder, shimmer mist, clear Wink of Stella, Big Shot, Bermuda bay and calypso coral ribbons, Stitched Seasons framelits, word window punch, Dimensionals, mounting tape, Stampin' Blends

We don't usually make four cards but we'll be missing a class in August (as I'll be away) so I thought I'd treat my ladies. They are all so supportive and enthusiastic and I'm very lucky to have such a wonderful group to craft with and for.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kez

Floral Fantasies

Many things excite we crafters but there's not a lot that compares with a brand new catalogue full of shiny, gleaming new SCHTUFF! Yeah, baby.

So I've been having a play with lots of new schtuff and here are the cards we made in class yesterday - which, coincidentally, all feature flowers.

First up is new set Dandelion wishes and new colour Balmy Blue. This was cased from Monica Gale, who I think used the Bokeh stamp but as I haven't got that, I did the Bokeh the old fashioned way. I stamped the flower and sentiment with black craft ink and clear embossed (you could also stamp with Versamark and use black embossing powder, but I didn't have any at the time. I've fixed that now.) so I could sponge over the top. Post it notes were used to mask a portion of my white card, I sponged with balmy blue then with whisper white using my Bokeh template. Don't have a Bokeh template? Just punch a mixture of circle punches on a piece of firm acetate and voila!

Materials used:

• stamps - Dandelion Wishes
• card - smoky slate, balmy blue, whisper white
• other - post it notes, sponges, circle punches, clear embossing powder, heat tool, Stamparatus

Our second card is another 'get well soon' type, this time using new set Healing Hugs, which is one of the new DisINKtive type stamp sets. These are deeply etched at different levels into the rubber, creating depth without having to 2-step. This one was inspired by a creation by Lynn Hoyt.

Materials used:

• stamps - Healing Hugs
• card - grey granite, lovely lipstick, whisper white
• other - embossing paste, Pattern Party decorative masks, palette knife, Dimensionals

And lastly another case, this time from one of the Artisan Design Team members but I don't remember who! When I find their name, I'll come back and add it. They had used a different sentiment and also sponged an ombre effect in the background, but I chose to just use plain card. Varied Vases is the new stamp set (which I borrowed from my friend Robyn, along with the matching punch) and two returning colours are featured - coastal cabana and poppy parade, along with new colour grey granite. I'm rather liking this new colour, it's a great mix between grey and brown.

Materials used:

• stamps - Varied Vases
• card - grey granite, coastal cabana, basic black, whisper white, Delightfully Detailed laser-cut DSP
• other - embossing buddy, white embossing powder, heat tool, Stamparatus, Dimensionals, Big Shot, pinewood planks embossing folder, water spritzer, vase builder punch

All the fussy cutting on this one should keep my ladies busy - and quiet! LOL! 

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

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