Wednesday, September 30, 2009

On My Mind

With DD17's graduation tomorrow, it's only natural that I've got school on my mind ... so I just HAD to ink up another of my new school-themed Magnolia stamps. I've also used a retired SU wheel which goes perfectly.

The colours I've used are bravo burgundy and bashful blue - not my usuals, but these are the colours of DD11's school uniform and as she is also graduating this year (from primary school to high school) I wanted to see how they looked on a card.

You'll have to excuse any hiccoughs in my watercolouring today; I have lost my reading/close work glasses and am having trouble seeing the finer details! Just one of the many joys of getting older!!! LOL

Here's Tilda:

Cheers

Kez

Lucky Last

I feel like I have spent the past week sitting in the doctor's waiting room ... with four visits in six days, it's no wonder! Meanwhile, I've managed to finish my last alcohol ink card and found an old one I made years ago, so have those to show you, here they are:


Last chance today to enter for my blog candy (just leave a comment on any post in September) and also last chance for the SU ribbon bundle promotion, so that gives you something to be going on with today! I'll announce the blog candy winner tomorrow, which is also DD17's graduation day! A big day for her, and a proud one for us, especially as she has come top in class in two subjects.

Thanks for calling in today. Have a good one!

Cheers

Kez

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Alcohol Explained

I had planned to show you another alcohol ink technique card, but sickness and other things have gotten in the way, so hopefully I'll get it finished soon. Meanwhile, many thanks for your comments this month (last chance tomorrow to be in for the blog candy win) and here's the two ways I know to do the alcohol cards. No matter what kind of equipment you use, you will need gloss card.

Method 1 - Using the stuff you buy:
  • alcohol inks
  • blending solution
  • blender tool and pads
  • gloss cardstock

Attach the cotton pad to the tool (velcro holds it on); apply a few drops of 2-3 ink colours; stamp on to gloss cardstock in a random manner. You can add a drop or two of blending solution to the cotton pad to create different effects.

Method 2 - Using household bits you probably already have:

  • gloves (to keep your hands clean)
  • cotton wool balls
  • Isocol or similar alcohol
  • re-inkers
  • gloss cardstock

While wearing the gloves, wet the cotton wool balls with alcohol and squeeze out. Apply a drop or two each of 2-3 re-inkers, stamp on gloss cardstock in a random manner.

With either method, it's a hit and miss operation. You can never get the same result twice - sometimes that's good and sometimes not so good! But it's lots of fun trying! Hope you have fun trying this method.

Cheers

Kez

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Inspired by Alcohol

No, it's OK! I haven't taken to binge drinking or anything! The title just refers to the alcohol ink technique I've used on my cards. (Phew!)

I was having a fun play (don't you just love those?) cos it had occurred to me that I hadn't used my alcohol inks in YEARS and that they might look kinda cool with the silhouette style of stamp. So here's my first one, using Adirondack/Tim Holtz alcohol inks (stream and terracotta) and Inspired by Nature, matched with perfection to really rust and taken with teal cardstock.

Then I had a play to see if I could get the same effect using SU re-inkers, which worked OK except the gloss card loses its sheen rather. Here I've used riding hood red, so saffron and baja breeze re-inkers for my background and stamped with Upsy Daisy.

There you go, more ways to have fun with alcohol, LOL!!!!

Now, don't forget two great offers that expire at the end of this month, which is just 6 days away:

  1. my blog candy (just leave a comment on any post this month, and yes, the more comments you leave, the greater your chance to win!)
  2. the SU ribbon offer - spend $100 and get 18.2 m of FREE totally gorjus ribbons! See the photo below.


That's all for today! You have a good one now, and thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

It's a red, red world

It's a surreal world I awoke to this morning: the air was literally red and very murky, and my first thought was bush fire as yesterday was hot and dry. But the air didn't smell of smoke, it smelt of dirt - and that's exactly what it is; a huge dust storm. Much of NSW and certainly Sydney and surrounding suburbs are clouded in very fine red dust, blown east by gale force winds overnight. Another new experience for me since moving to this big brown land!

It's expected to continue most of the day, which of course gives the perfect excuse to stay indoors and do some stamping! (Yeah, you're right, as if I need an excuse, LOL!)

So here's another Christmas card made with my other new Sarah Kay stamp. Not totally as cute as yesterday's little boy, but pretty darn sweet all the same! Lots of detail in this one, so the background is kept fairly simple so the whole effect is not too busy.

Sarah Kay stamp by Stampavie, all other materials by Stampin' Up!

Thanks for dropping in today, hope it's not too dusty and windy where you are.

Cheers

Kez

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Cutest stamp on the planet

Yes, I boldly claim that title for the stamp I've used on my card today! And I challenge you to contest it and show me a cuter, more adorable stamp!

You see, my new Sarah Kay Christmas stamps arrived in yesterday's mail and I couldn't wait to ink them up. They've been on order for a while and I'd pretty much forgotten what the images look like, LOL! Once I'd put some ink on and stamped on watercolour paper, I was completely rapt! This little guy is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo gorgeous that I just wanted to take him in my arms and give him a cuddle! You'll see what I mean in a sec when you scroll down. Just don't judge him by the card around him, take him on his own merits!

OK, are you ready for your heart to melt over the cutest stamp on the planet? Here we go:

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! isn't he totally adorable? Do you think you've got one that's cuter? Let me see! Let me see!

Materials used:

  • stamps - Noel Shepherd (Sarah Kay), canvas background, Many Merry Messages
  • card - so saffron, always artichoke, river rock, bashful blue, watercolour paper
  • inks - bashful blue, river rock, blush blossom, always artichoke, real red, summer sun, creamy caramel, chocolate chip, basic grey
  • other - so saffron twill ribbon, so saffron brads, hodgepodge hardware, dimensionals
Ta ra!
Kez

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Ain't She Sweet?

While I was making the little snowmen card the other day using Window Dressing (see this post) I was tempted to make another card with the cute little girl's face. She is so sweet and I just don't use her nearly as often as I should (not much watercolouring scope, LOL!) so I made this card with the totally adorable Sweet Slumber papers.


Ain't she sweet? I love the sentiment too - I am going to have to make a batch of these as I am thankful for so many people in my life right now; not least of which is you guys for giving me a chance to share my passion and an outlet for my ramblings!

Have a great day everyone.

Cheers
Kez

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Me and My Big Mouth

Being the sweet, generous, kind and thoughtful person that I am (YILM!) I said to DD17 the other night to let me know if she wanted me to make any Thank You cards. I was thinking there might be one or two teachers that she would like to give one to when she graduates (less than 2 weeks now!)

She asked for 10!

Me and my big mouth! So I began working on Thank You cards, which have to of course be all different to each other! This is my first batch:



Back again in a day or two with the next batch!

Cheers
Kez

Friday, September 18, 2009

Elves and Snowmen

I've been so busy lately with Christmas card stamp-a-stacks that I have been neglecting my own need for Christmas cards! So on Wednesday I sat down to make a few and began with five of this design

The bits were leftovers from a SAS, so it was pretty easy to stamp, colour and put them together. Then I tried a card using the set called A Flower For All Seasons and liked it, so made three of those.

I also wanted to use these cute snowmen from the Window Dressing hostess set, which I have been sadly neglecting, so came up with this card. I really like this one and may just have a bit of trouble giving it away .... LOL!

Hope you have all started on your Chrissy cards - December will be here before you know it!

Cheers
Kez

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Love/Hate relationship with technology

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! I have just spent a very frustrating morning! OK, my SD card hasn't shown up yet - I'll probably find it at work tomorrow - so I bought another one and have been snapping away like mad this morning to catch up on all the "overdue" photos. I loaded the new SD card into my laptop, opened the files to edit and save and from there it all went to pot! Firstly it wouldn't save changes, then wouldn't show the photos, then wouldn't copy the ones that were OK to my hard drive! Man, there are times when you just gotta hate technology, aren't there??? Obviously the new SD card is a LOAD OF CRAP (pardon me). So I had to borrow DH's card and begin all over again. Grrrrrr!

OK, calm, deep breath!

Right: photos. First up here is a shot of the BLOG CANDY I am offering this month. There are 20 pieces of cardstock and I have tried to match up ribbons with card as much as I can. I mounted the stamp set just in case someone wins who doesn't know about mounting SU stamps, so you're all set to go!

Next for your viewing pleasure is a Christmas project I worked on last week using the Tree Trimmings stamp set from the mini catalogue. I call this set Table Trimmings - things you can decorate your Christmas table with - which includes a candle, coasters and wine glass tags.



Totally GORJUS!

I will be running classes making a candle and 6 wine glass tags with a box to store them in, which would make a lovely gift set. If you are interested in coming along - or would like to arrange your own class at a time to suit - just email me.
I'll be back tomorrow to show you some of the 13 cards I made yesterday. Yes, that's right, thirteen! A marathon!!!

See ya then!
Kez

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Houston, we have a problem

Well, I don't know how I have done it, but I have managed to mislay the SD card for my digital camera - how reliant on technology we have become! - so I can't take any pictures at the moment. If I can't find it soon I'll have to go and buy another one (then I'll find the original for sure!) so you can see the latest projects I've been working on.

Meanwhile, just a reminder that there is blog candy in the offing this month to celebrate my first year as a demo with Stampin' Up! All you have to do is leave a comment on any post this month to be in with a chance to win. And what will you win? As I can't show you a photo just now, I can tell you that included in the candy is:
  • mixed pack of cardstock
  • mixed pack of ribbons
  • a brand new stamp set

So "we hope to return to our regularly scheduled programme as soon as possible"!!!

Cheers

Kez

Friday, September 11, 2009

Forgive Me Stampers, For I Have Sinned

The inimitable Jan Tink has a great expression I love - Rubbah-dultery - which means "Being unfaithful to my Stampin' Up! stamps". And you know, it does kinda feel like that when I use non SU stamps and other supplies! Which is kinda silly, but there ya go!

Well, this week I committed not only Rubbah-dultery but also Paper-dultery. By that I mean I have been unfaithful to my beloved SU watercolour paper, but in my defence it wasn't exactly on purpose! See what happened is simply a case of CRASS STUPIDITY on my part: I have been so distracted by other things happening around here that I completely forgot to check supplies of things for my SAS on Sunday and then to my absolute HORROR discovered that I had run out of watercolour paper. OMG!

And what is a girl to do when she needs said WP for her class and knows that an order placed on a Wednesday arvo ain't gonna arrive before the weekend, no way, no how??!! She rings a fellow demo not too far away first off and when that doesn't work (how can anyone not have watercolour paper? the mind boggles!) she goes to an art supply store and buys something as similar as she can get, is what!

I am prepared to do penance. I'll say a few "Hail Shelli"s and abstain from watercolouring for a whole day (have to go to work anyways, he he!) but PLEASE don't make me give up the WP - you know how much I ADORE watercolouring and it just would not be fair to deprive my lovely class members from the joy and bliss of colouring their cards ...

That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! See ya!

Cheers
Kez

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Magnolia Recipe

It's been a while since I did a Magnolia challenge and Magnolia Down Under have a recipe for their current challenge: 1 flower; 2 ribbons; 3 brads and 4 papers. It sounded like lots of fun - and I was right! it was! - so here's my entry:

Materials used:

Stampin' Up! materials -

  • card & paper - Riding Hood Red and Whisper White card; Washington Apple DSP; So Saffron patterns paper
  • inks - pumpkin pie, riding hood red, bashful blue, not quite navy, blush blossom, so saffron, creamy caramel, certainly celery, brocade blue
  • ribbon - so saffron grosgrain (from September promotion ribbon bundle) and riding hood red taffeta
  • brads - real red brads, kiwi kiss corduroy brad
  • other - dimensionals, aqua painter, watercolour paper, sponge daubers

Non SU materials -

  • Magnolia stamps - Tilda with jeans and hair bow, baseball Edwin
  • flowers (from stash)
  • nestabilities Labels 2 die
  • Big Shot die cutting machine
  • cuttlebug embossing folder Swiss Dots

With all those things on the card I had no room left for a sentiment! I'll have to put that on the inside, LOL! Thanks for dropping by, enjoy the rest of your day.

Cheers

Kez

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Elegant Kiwi

No, not me! I am far from an elegant kiwi today; torn jeans and a scruffy T-shirt! LOL! No, I'm talking about the elegant eggplant/kiwi kiss combo that I mentioned the other day - the ladies at my class yesterday loved it too, so I thought I'd show you two cards made using the same colours. Warning though, one card contains non-SU stamps - beware!!!

This first card is the one that started it all: I was colouring the image (one of our Christmas stamp-a-stack cards this month, by special request) and decided to use purple for the king's robes. Then I thought I'd use it for the card base too, kind of a non traditional colour thing going on! I wasn't overly in love when I paired it with old olive (much as I lurve OO, you understand!) so tried Kiwi Kiss and ... ZING! Great combo!

Then I decided to see what else looked good in this combo and as one of my good friends LOVES purple, I had her in mind when I tried some purple roses.

Yup, I am really liking it! Are you sick of it yet? Maybe I can sneak in a few more .... LOL! So, why don't you try making a card with these colours and send me a photo - I'd love to see some of your creations. Go on, don't be shy, I don't bite! Honest!

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day!

Cheers

Kez

Monday, September 7, 2009

Hold Our Destiny

It's only a matter of a few weeks now until my darling DD17 graduates from high school - her first HSC exam is TOMORROW! - and apart from the whole getting-teary-eyed-at-the-thought business, I wanted to get started on her graduation card. The design has been floating in my head for a few weeks and I was dying to see it "in the flesh"!

She adores blue and brown and loves the Parisian Breeze papers - well, of course, who doesn't? - so that was an easy choice, luckily for me! I wanted to do a side step card but decided the regular A5 size wasn't big enough, so I doubled it up. I began with a piece 21 x 30 cm and the measurements fitted just perfectly for the steps and folds (email me if you'd like the measurements and instructions). Great Grads stamp set and some school Tilda stamps were obtained just for this and another project for DD11.

Here's the outcome

I'm thinking maybe I should add a touch of colour on the steps part too, maybe the cap and scallop circle in kiwi kiss? What do you think? Is it OK as is or does it need a touch of something on that side?
I love this side step style as you can fit so much more stamping on your card! Here I have used five stamps from the GG set, as well as two Magnolias.


I stuck pretty much with in colours for the books Tilda is sitting on and both have been stamped on watercolour paper and coloured with inks, markers and aqua painter. It looks so much more gorjus IRL, the photo really doesn't do it justice, if I do say so myself! LOL! Nothing like blowing your own trumpet, as they say!!!

Right, well, I'd better go and get something else done! Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kez

Sunday, September 6, 2009

A Card by Tracie

Many thanks everyone for all the good wishes you have been sending for our 20th wedding anniversary. We had a wonderful evening out with family and closest friends last night; even the girls said they really enjoyed themselves, despite being the only "children" in the group.
Luckily someone grabbed my camera and snapped away, as I was so busy chatting with all, but somehow I didn't manage to get a single photo of DH and I!!! LOL! Hopefully one of my friends will have one for me. I have got a nice shot of DD17 & DD11 to share though. They both looked totally GOJUS and mixed well with everyone.

Plus here is a photo of a card we received from dear friend Tracie, who has a natural flair for colour and design and makes lovely cards. She's used stamps from SU and Sarah Kay plus some chipboard monograms and the lovely SU eyelet border punch.

So sweet! Thanks Tracie, for such a beautiful and special momento.

I'll be back later in the week. Enjoy the remainder of your weekend everyone.

Cheers

Kez

Thursday, September 3, 2009

***Blog Candy***

This month marks the end of my first twelve months as an independent demonstrator for Stampin' Up! I can't believe a whole year has gone by already; it has been a wonderful year for me and I've loved every minute. The whole experience of sharing my love of creating with friends - old and new - either through classes and workshops or using this forum is one I treasure and I am so thankful to have the opportunity to do so.

So to celebrate my first anniversary as a demo, I am offering some blog candy. I don't have a photo yet (camera battery died) but it is a mixed pack of goodies all presented in a gorgeous treat box (you'll just have to take my word for it that it's gorgeous until I can take a photo!). How I will mail the treat box to the winner, I don't yet know, but I'll worry about that later, LOL!

To be in with a chance to win, all you have to do is leave a comment on any of my postings between now and the end of the month, and then on 1st October one name will get drawn at random. Sound easy? Sure is!

And speaking of anniversaries, today is DH and my 20th wedding anniversary. Boy, did those 20 years fly by! We are having dinner out with a group of friends on Saturday, but right now I am sitting next to a totally GOJUS bouquet of pink roses DH sent me. They smell so beautiful and yes, roses are my favourite flower. Here's a photo of us 20 years ago ...


We sure do look a lot younger, LOL! Not a grey hair in sight!!! I have just this morning finished scrapbooking our wedding photos - yes, folks, it took me 20 years! (Nah, actually it was the first thing I scrapped when I first started, but I did it all again just recently as I couldn't stand looking at the awful job I'd made of it first time when I was so inexperienced!) Apart from DH, my SIL and I, no-one who will be at our anniversary dinner was present at our wedding, so I thought I'd better finish the album so they could look at the piccies!

Well, enough for today. Hope you are having a wet day too, like us (we desperately need the rain). Don't forget to visit often during the month and leave your comment for the candy!

Cheers

Kez

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

For Baby

Just a quick post today with only one card to show as things are pretty hectic around here at the moment! I am in the throes of organising our annual Trivia Night to fundraise for diabetes research which is coming up next month. If you love the fun of trivia and are interested, let me know and I will send details.

Meanwhile, I just adore the speciality designer papers and have used Parisian Breeze a fair bit, so I thought it high time I made another card using Sweet Slumber. As red is my all time favourite colour, it's not difficult for me to love this riding hood red, so saffron and baja breeze combo. The clouds inspired me to do a baby card and pull out Wild About You, here tis:

(BTW, it's my photography skills that need straightening, not the card!)

C-U-T-E!!!!! Only wish I knew someone who is having a baby so I could give it to them, LOL! Blog candy details still to come for a special occasion ... tune in again tomorrow!

Cheers

Kez