Sale-a-brating

At our next class we're using Sale-a-bration freebies.

Occasionally I make a card I love so much I don't want to give it away - not to anyone. Today's first card is such a one; it just makes me feel happy every time I look at it, so why would I want to lose that? Of course, it's a nice feeling to give to someone else, so I can see I'm just going to have make more of these!

Here tis:

I guess some of my enthusiasm is because we have chickens - the puffy-headed type like the lady at the back - so I can relate to these gals. The bright cheerful colours help too. The gals were coloured using SU's new watercolour pencils and I got the colour scheme from casing Juana Ambida. For the grass I did a watercolour wash first using old olive ink, then once it was dry, overstamped using a grass stamp. The chickens were all stamped and coloured on watercolour paper then cut out individually and added afterwards, though you could use the masking technique too. On my daffodil delight base card I sponged sun rays using crushed curry ink and it lifted the plain background so much I was thrilled with the result.

Materials used:

• stamps - Hey Chick, Thoughtful Branches
• card - daffodil delight, watercolour, Bermuda bay, basic black
• other - large oval and scalloped oval punches, Dimensionals, watercolour pencils, aquapainter, MFT stencil, sponge dauber

Ever since I got the Tasty Trucks stamp set I've been dying to make a fun card, so I finally got around to it. My ladies know I love puns (I crack them quite often in class), so I was virtually compelled to use the taco theme for the punny sentiment alone! I basically cased a card by Lyssa Zwolanek, but added a couple of twists of my own - the zig zag embossing and 3D elements (the truck is in three layers). 

Materials used:

• stamps - Tasty Trucks
• card - Pacific point, melon mambo, daffodil delight, watercolour
• other - pumpkin pie grosgrain ribbon (retired), watercolour pencils, aquapainter, Dimensionals, chevron embossing folder (retired), Big Shot, mini glue dot, candy dots, foam adhesive strips

And last but by no means least, we'll be making a card using the Inside the Pages designer series paper. When I first saw these in the SAB leaflet I glossed right over them - until I started seeing some beautiful images showing up on Pinterest and wondered where they'd come from! I should have known SU wouldn't fail to amaze me.

Materials used:

• card - Inside the Pages dsp, basic black, flirty flamingo
• other - ink pads, aquapainter, Dimensionals, markers, Wink of Stella

Hopefully my ladies will love these as much as I do.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

Last But Not Least

Phew! There's a whole lotta posts today! But I've been catching up on photographing all the cards I've made in the past two weeks, feeling guilty because people keep asking for them! So here is my final batch - no new stuff, just playing with colour and ideas.

Materials used:

• stamps - Weather Together
• card - basic grey, whisper white, daffodil delight, brights patterned paper stack, white glitter
• other - umbrella dies, Big Shot, dimensionals

The challenge on this one was sticking those sparkly raindrops on individually!

It's fun to have another play with this great bundle and hopefully give my ladies some ideas. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Beautiful You, Thoughtful Branches
• card - smoky slate, whisper white, neutrals patterned paper
• other - branches dies, Big Shot, dimensionals

For this last card it's actually been some time since I made it, but as I hadn't gotten around to showing it to you, I'll pop it in. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Baby Bear
• card - sweet sugarplum, whisper white, in colour patterned paper, tip top taupe
• other - stitched framelits, Big Shot, dimensionals

Well, that's it, I'm all caught up. Hope you enjoy wandering through all the posts today and my feast of cards.

Cheers

Kez

Nothing But Hot Air

My friend Rob loaned me her Lift Me Up bundle from the new Occasions catalogue to have a play with, so here are the cards I created.

Materials used:

• stamps - Lift Me Up
• card - soft sky, tip top taupe, so saffron, whisper white, sweet sugarplum, soft sky patterned paper
• other - Up & Away thinlits, Big Shot, dimensionals, glue pen

Materials used:

• stamps - Lift Me Up, Balloon Adventures
• card - tip top taupe, soft sky, whisper white, so saffron
• other - starburst die, Up & Away thinlits, Big Shot, dimensionals, rhinestones, sponge dauber

Hope you like them. Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

Live With Passion

SU came to my rescue this morning.

Imagine the card below with no sentiment on it and this is the dilemma I faced. Yes, I had a lot of fun brayering the sky background, and yes, it was a challenge to get my die upright when I couldn't see what I was doing - but then I took my card out to DD18 and asked, "What kind of sentiment would I put on this card?" Her reply basically told me I had to work it out on my own, so I turned to my SU catalogues for inspiration. Luckily for me, I didn't have to go any further than the new Occasions catalogue, and more specifically, page 24 and the gorgeous set Beautiful You.

Materials used:

• stamps - Beautiful You
• card - watermelon wonder, whisper white, basic black
• inks - so saffron, calypso coral, watermelon wonder, Versamark
• other - white embossing powder, heat tool, MISTI, brayer, 3/4" circle punch, post it note, tree branch circle die (Memory Box), Big Shot, two-way glue pen, embossing buddy

Words that are deep and meaningful definitely suit dramatic colours, don't they? 

Thanks for dropping in.

Cheers

Kez

Beautiful You

One of the stamp sets that appealed to me most in the new Occasions catty is a simple, pencil-line sketch set called Beautiful You. It reminds me a lot of a set we had years ago called Seaside Sketches, and it has the same evocative imagery that really calls to me. So naturally it was in my pre-order and yesterday I made my first couple of cards with it.

Firstly some fun with the new watercolour pencils and a colour combination that until a few years ago I never would have thought of combining.

Materials used:

• stamps - Beautiful You
• card - rose red, pumpkin pie, watercolour
• other - watercolour pencils, aqua painter

The second image is to me very reminiscent of Audrey Hepburn's iconic pose from Breakfast at Tiffany's, so I wanted to colour the dress black. Melon mambo has come to the fore again as the contrast and this time I've put the sentiment inside - it reads 'Life looks beautiful on you' so is great for birthdays.

Materials used:

• stamps - Beautiful You
• card - basic black, melon mambo, watercolour, retired dsp, whisper white
• other - layering ovals framelits, Big Shot, dimensionals, watercolour pencils, aqua painter

I'm having such fun playing with new product - more coming again soon. Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

Party, Party, Party

The plethora of balloon stamp sets we've had in recent SU catalogues are just great for birthdays no matter the age or gender, so I've made a point of hanging on to retiring ones (dies included) as they can often be used in conjunction with sets as they come along. Today's card samples are a case in point.

I was dying to try out the new balloon pop-up die - which, I am happy to report, was very easy to use and accessorise. Once the inside of my card was decorated, I had to drum up something for the front, so I dug out an old balloon themed bundle and used stamps and dies from it to co-ordinate. The papers are also retired - I snaffled more of them up in the year-end sale.

Here's the front:

And the inside:

Materials used:

• stamps - Balloon Adventures, Celebrate Today
• card - basic black, mint macaron, whisper white, melon mambo, It's My Party DSP
• other - balloon pop-up thinlits, balloon framelits, Big Shot, balloon punch, melon mambo bakers twine, dimensionals, MISTI

Now, who wouldn't be happy to get a birthday card like that?

Had a play making some more - again, this next one mixes the old with the new.

Materials used:

• stamps - Balloon Adventures, Balloon Celebration
• card - Bermuda bay, whisper white, calypso coral, night of navy, gold foil, retired dsp
• other - balloon punch, balloon pop-up thinlits, Big Shot, gold embossing powder, heat tool, dimensionals

And lastly a softer colouring using the centre of the pop-up die piece.

Materials used:

• stamps - Balloon Adventures
• card - Bermuda bay, crumb cake, very vanilla, Cupcakes & Carousels DSP
• inks - Bermuda bay, calypso coral, so saffron, peekaboo peach, crumb cake
• other - balloon punch, balloon pop-up thinlits, Big Shot, Dimensionals, crumb cake marker, blender pen, sponge dauber

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

Pride and Prejudice

It is a truth universally acknowledged that stampers love playing with new product. Am I right? Yes, I am.

With my visitors gone (sad face), the silver lining was that my craft room was my own once again, and that meant PLAY TIME! The goodies I'd pre-ordered from the Occasions Catalogue were taunting me from the shelves so it was time to settle down and get serious with ink.

And you know how I love to get inky. Oh yeah. The new Dragonfly Dreams bundle gave me just the opportunity to get messily creative - so yes, I am happy to admit, my fingers are all shades of grubby right now! But. I. Don't. Care.

As usual, I found some inspiration from Pinterest, and also - unusually - from the Occasions catty itself. Here's my first effort, some Bokeh effect with gold and purples. So rich and glamorous! A whispery trail of dragonfly sparkle ties the two gold elements together and gives the card movement.

Materials used:

• stamps - Butterfly Basics, Dragonfly Dreams
• card - whisper white, blackberry bliss, gold foil
• inks - rich razzleberry, blackberry bliss, whisper white, Versamark
• other - gold embossing powder, heat tool, dragonfly thinlits, cirlce punches and dies, sponges, Wink of Stella, dimensionals, Big Shot, die brush

The card in the Occasions catty I based my next sample on used some of the lovely new papers, but there's not enough of it in a pack for me to use with classes, so I had to improvise and create my own. 

I began with a piece of very vanilla and stamped En Francais using crumb cake ink, then sponged it unevenly (yes, on purpose) with so saffron. Next some Bermuda bay sponging of a diamond stencil - not SU, unfortunately, as they don't have this shape (yet) - and the 'dots' of hello honey. The edges were given a deep sponge with crumb cake, then a light edging with early espresso for more depth. The dragonfly (stamped in early espresso) has hints of saffron and Bermuda on its wings, which also glitter with Wink of Stella. The sentiment is stamped on vellum. Et voila! 

Materials used:

• stamps - Dragonfly Dreams, En Francais (retired)
• card - Bermuda bay, very vanilla, vellum
• inks - crumb cake, so saffron, Bermuda bay, hello honey, early espresso, StazOn timber brown
• other - sponges, Tim Holtz stencil, dragonfly thinlits, Wink of Stella, dimensionals, spray adhesive, Big Shot

Sometimes, of course, simple is best, as you can see in my next card, inspired by a creation from a UK demo called Kim that I found on Pinterest. To get my sentiment dark enough but still use the matching ink, I used my MISTI and stamped it three times.

Materials used:

• stamps - Thoughtful Branches, Canvas (retired)
• card - Sahara sand, dazzling diamonds glimmer, Falling in Love DSP
• inks - Sahara sand
• other - dragonfly thinlits, layering ovals framelits, Big Shot, MISTI, sponge dauber, dimensionals, die brush

Okay, time to go back for some more playing. Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Still Blue, White and Silver

Continuing with my fixation with blue, white and silver for Christmas cards this year are the cards I made for my ladies. Inspired by a card made by Canadian demo Sabrina, I've used the Christmas Pines bundle. Here's my card:

First off I prepared the soft sky card then stamped the sentiment and embossed with silver. I used both parts of the two-step pine leaf stamps, the first using soft sky ink then the second using Versamark, which was then embossed with irridescent ice. I cut pine boughs, pinecones and a bow from silver foil and white glitter card and attached those. You can see some of the sparkle in the next photo:

Inside I utilised the co-ordinating embossing folder and another sentiment from the set.

The envelopes don't miss out either, as you can see in the first photo.

Hopefully my ladies aren't sick of my favourite colour scheme just yet and will enjoy the soft sparkle of these cards.

I'm also hoping I'll get the chance to play with my new goodies from the upcoming Occasions catalogue soon and be back with samples from those. Meanwhile, thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez

A Special Christmas

The Christmas cards we make in our stamp-a-stack classes are of necessity fairly simple and straightforward, so my ladies love it when we do a Special, One-Off Christmas Cards class and go for more detail. This year I have found myself very much drawn to a colour palette of blue/white/silver, as you'll see from my cards.

This centre-step card has a brayered sky background and I used a lovely Cottage Cutz die in sparkly white with it. Love, love, love the soft look.

 Materials used:

• stamps - Holly Jolly Greetings
• card - soft sky, white glitter (non SU)
• other - Big Shot, Cottage Cutz die, Christmas Greetings thinlits, apothecary accents thinlits, Dimensionals, white embossing powder, embossing buddy, heat tool

For this one I had some left over Kaisercraft Christmas paper and decided to use it up. The design on the paper is baubles hanging on a pine tree, so I've used pine branches as part of my accents and coincidentally the sentiment comes from the Ornamental Pine set! Lol.

Materials used:

• stamps - music (non SU), Ornamental Pine
• card - whisper white, not quite navy, silver foil, Kaisercraft Christmas dsp
• other - rhinestones, Dimensionals, Big Shot, Pretty Pines thinlits, silver ribbon (non SU), pine branch punch (Martha Stewart), poinsettia die (Spellbinders), stitched oval frame die, embossing stylus and mat, white embossing powder, heat tool

The next card evolved after much to-ing and fro-ing with different colours, designs and dies, until eventually it became this very serene result.

The large star was cut in vellum cardstock, then I embossed a line down the centre of each point and folded them slightly to give some dimension. They are held on with a double layer of Dimensionals. The sparkly white star on top is soooo pretty in real life; the photo definitely doesn't do it justice.

Materials used:

• stamps - none
• card - pool party, whisper white, vellum, white glitter
• other - Darice embossing folder, Starlight thinlit dies, Big Shot, Dimensionals, rhinestone

A number of my ladies have the candle die I've used for our last card and were keen to use it. In order to give it more emphasis, I cut two and stuck them together, and of course they are wonderfully highlighted by the intricate die-cut panel at the top.

Materials used:

• stamps - none
• card - very vanilla, gold foil
• other - Holly Gemini die (Sue Wilson), candle die (Memory Box), Big Shot, two-way glue pen

Hopefully my ladies will have fun getting through these in class - then they just have to decide if they can bear to part with them and who to give them to!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Wonderful Christmas

I happened upon the Global Design Project blog and was intrigued by their colour challenge for this week.

I love the colours but a design that suited them didn't immediately spring to mind. Then, as luck would have it, I had an idea for a slightly non traditional Christmas card. I was reasonably sure that emerald and sugarplum would stand out nicely against a black background, so after pondering on it for a day or two, this morning I sat down and made the card I had in mind.

Here tis:

After cutting and scoring the flower petals I gave them a coat of Wink of Stella for some sparkle, which looks beautiful when it catches the light and is complemented by the rhinestones.

Materials used:

• stamps - Wondrous Wreath, Gorgeous Grunge
• card - basic black, whisper white, emerald envy, sweet sugarplum
• other - poinsettia dies (Spellbinders), Pretty Pines thinlits, rhinestones, Wink of Stella, Big Shot, white embossing powder, heat tool, Dimensionals, embossing buddy, stitched framelits

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

Hello Peony

Over at the Altenew blog they've got an inspiration challenge going so I thought it might be fun to take part.

Here's the inspiration photo:

And here's my card. As you'll see, I used both flowers and colours for my inspiration.

Materials used:

• stamps - Peony Bouquet (Altenew)
• card - real red, whisper white, basic black (Stampin' Up!)
• inks - from SU - real red; from Altenew - volcano lake, lagoon, emerald, frayed leaf, forest glades, buttercream, warm sunshine
• dies - Peony Bouquet (Altenew), Hip Hello (Poppystamps)
• other - brayer, Big Shot, mounting tape, Wink of Stella, two-way glue, MISTI

I added a touch of Wink of Stella to the flowers (over the red layer) and they sparkle beautifully when they catch the light. It was fun to get out of my comfort zone a little for this one - I might have to try doing that again soon.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

Double Displays

My last post showed you the Double Display card I made using SU's Presents and Pinecones designer papers (which was one of the Top 3 Picks for the SUO challenge); here are some other samples with a variety of themes. The blue and silver Christmas one up first is the project I taught at stamp camp.

I have typed instructions if you'd like them (just ask me nicely in an email) but be warned if you use imperial measurements, as the paper cutting sizes are in metric - and no, I'm not going to do the conversion for you! That messes with my head, lol.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez

Presents and Pinecones Double Display

One of the projects I demonstrated at stamp camp last weekend was a Double Display card (more to come on that in the next day or two). After making it, one of the ladies was keen to try one using SU's Presents and Pinecones designer papers, along with the matching stamp and dies bundle, Christmas Pines. I helped her design the card and cut the pieces and once it was made I loved it so much I ordered the papers as soon as I got home! She kindly let me borrow her dies to cut a few pieces and I used a different stamp set for the sentiment.

It's bright, cheerful and whimsical, and of course it doesn't hurt at all that it incorporates my favourite colour - kerry cherry cobbler! Here's my own version, slightly different to hers:

Closed with belly band -

Open -

Materials used:

• stamps - Wondrous Wreath
• card - delightful dijon, cherry cobbler, Presents and Pinecones DSP, whisper white, emerald envy, gold foil
• other - cherry cobbler and emerald envy markers, Dimensionals, Pretty Pines thinlit dies, Big Shot

I just LOVE this combination of kerry cherry cobbler, emerald envy and delightful dijon.

I'm entering this in the SUO Challenge for this month (#159) to use holiday papers.

Thanks for dropping in.

Cheers
Kez

PS please ask me by email if you would like a copy of the measurements/instructions for a double display card (mostly metric measurements).

A Pop of Colour

Surprisingly for someone who doesn't usually go too much for bright colours, and especially melon mambo - bright pink is definitely not my thing - my favourite designer papers from this year's catalogue are Pop of Pink. Mind you, I do love black and white with a pop of almost any bright colour, really, so perhaps it's not so surprising after all.

Our team challenge this month is using our favourite designer papers, so of course guess what I used? I saw a very cute easel card on Pinterest and used that as my inspiration, then made a gift bag to match, and I'm quite happy with the result.

Materials used:

• stamps - Just Sayin'
• card - basic black, whisper white, melon mambo, Pop of Pink DSP
• other - Fox builder punch, 2 1/2" circle punch, circle framelit dies, word bubble dies, owl punch, black satin ribbon, Big Shot, crop-o-dile, Dimensionals, black rhinestone (non SU)

While at stamp camp last weekend - more on that to come - we also used black and white with a dash of colour for a project that Roz had organised; a small bag with matching gift cards. This time I chose tempting turquoise to be my accent colour and it looks just as lovely with black and white as the pink does. 

These gift cards are 3" x 3", so that gives you an idea of the size of the adorable little 'purse', which is an adaptation of the standard bag in a box and very simple to make. 

That's it for my pop of colour! Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Me and My MISTI

DH and I had a wedding anniversary a couple of weeks ago and I cleverly managed to wangle myself a wonderful new crafting tool - a MISTI. Have you heard of these? MISTI stands for Most Incredible Stamp Tool Invented - and I'm tending to agree, I have to say.

What does it do? Well, I'm going to put a couple of videos here for you to look at and see just what it does; there's a little repetition of information, but each video also gives unique ideas on what to use the tool for, so it's worth watching both.

Uh huh, see what I mean? And remember, Christmas is coming...

Thanks for dropping in.

Cheers
Kez