Thursday, January 29, 2015

PCS Blog Hop - Eiffel Tower of Love

Welcome!

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

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


 Simple and sweet are the watchwords for my project!


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


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

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

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


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

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez

Monday, January 26, 2015

Love Is In The Air


Happy Australia Day!

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

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

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


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

Cheers
Kez

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Totes Adorbs

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

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


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

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


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

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

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers
Kez

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Triple Layer Butterfly

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


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


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

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Love Letter

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


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

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez

Friday, January 9, 2015

Whetting Your Appetite

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









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

Early bird pricing ends soon!

Thursday, January 8, 2015

2015 Early Bird Special

It's time to ring in the new year with the early bird special for the Paper Crafters Sampler. Sign up for the full year and receive $10 off the regular full year price.

 
   
 Hurry, because the early bird special runs for 3 days only!

$89.00



NEW THIS YEAR!  PCS EXCLUSIVE TEMPLATES AVAILABLE IN PDF AND SVG

The exclusive template of the month is the Eiffel Love Tower that doubles as a tabletop decoration or treat holder.  Here's a sneak peek of the template.  The full embellished sample will be in the January issue, released on January 10th.



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

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez

Exciting News

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

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

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

Thanks for dropping in.

Cheers
Kez

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Happy New Year!

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

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

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


Materials used:

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

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


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

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


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

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

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez