Tuesday, August 21, 2018

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

Friday, August 17, 2018

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

Thursday, August 16, 2018

#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




Saturday, August 11, 2018

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




Friday, August 10, 2018

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

Thursday, August 9, 2018

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

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

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

Thursday, August 2, 2018

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