Anniversary Brayer

We're doing brayering at my workshop today and I couldn't possibly go wrong with choosing a Michelle Zindorf card for inspiration! I originally cased Michelle's card here but the colours for today's card were inspired by a gorgeous box that one of my Christmas gifts came in.

On my card's background I stamped the splodge stamp from French Foliage with both pool party and whisper white inks and sponged the edges.

Materials used:

• stamps - Inspired by Nature, French Foliage, Teeny Tiny Sentiments
• card - pool party, basic black, whisper white
• inks - pool party, basic black, whisper white
• other - bird punch, sponge daubers, dimensionals, stamp-a-ma-jig

My photo really doesn't do it justice, the colour is just gorgeous.

Thanks for dropping by. 

Cheers

Kez

Shabby Chic-tagstic

I've been wanting to do something with the divine Beau Chateau papers for a while now after seeing so many gorgeous creations out there in Blogland, so yesterday I "got my feet wet" with another small box made from the Two Tags die.

I really don't make punched flowers well, especially small ones, so I've resorted to using bought ones. Shameful I know, but at least this way they actually look like flowers, which they wouldn't if I'd made them! LOL

Here tis:

Materials used:

• stamps - Tagtastic (hostess)
• card - marina mist, very vanilla, Beau Chateau DSP, soft suede
• other - bird punch, designer frames embossing folder, Big Shot, purchased paper flowers, two tags die, marina mist 1/8" taffeta ribbon, dimensionals, champagne shimmer mist

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

Now it's getting obsessive!

OK, you had to be expecting it.

It was inevitable, really, let's face it.

I'm sure it will come as no surprise to many of you.

After all, what else could possibly happen, based on past performance?

Yes, you're right. I've gone and done it.

Again.

Made another owl.

Not just any old owl. Ohhhhh no.

An Easter owl.

Having trouble thinking how owls and Easter can match up? Well, you see, here's how it happened ...

... so, I was in the shops and saw those cute little hairbands that always pop up around Easter. You know the ones, they are white and fluffy and have cute bunny ears attached. And little kids wear them and look adorable. Well, my girls did anyways ... looked adorable in them, that is. I'm sure yours do/did too!

So then I got to thinking ... would a little owl wear bunny ears too? And go around looking for eggs hidden in the garden? Of course they would! No owl parent would deprive their child of that kind of fun, now would they? Which raises the side issue of whether or not chocolate is good for owls .... but I digress!

And so my Easter owl was created, dressed in a bunny ear headband and bunny costume and carrying a basket filled with eggs found in the grass.

Ta da!

Damn stinkin' cute is what it is! (YILM!)

Punches used:

• bunny ears - 5 petal flower
• headband - 1" circle, 1 1/4" circle
• bunny tummy - small oval
• owl wings - scallop oval
• basket - owl
• basket handle - small oval, large oval
• eggs - balloon (non SU)
• grass - grass (Martha Stewart)
• branches - 2 step bird

Hope it brings a smile to your dial. Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez

Thanks So Much

Here is the thank you card I made for the lovely ladies who are coming to make Mothers Day cards for the Troops today.

Materials used:

• stamps - En Francais, Medallion, Sincere Salutations
• card - very vanilla, crumb cake, cherry cobbler
• ink - crumb cake, soft suede, cherry cobbler
• punches - 2 step bird punch, scallop trim border punch
• other - sponge daubers, dimensionals, rhinestone (non SU)

The name tags have some stamping too.

I'm sure the canny among you have spotted the cherry cobbler used in both!

Thanks for dropping in.

Cheers
Kez

Robins and Gingerbread Men

This is the Christmas card I made for my customers this year. I have been so busy with classes that I had to sit down at the last minute and make them all in one go! So it had to be a relatively easy design but something that they hadn't seen already in classes or here on my blog.

It's been a while since I used my bird punch (he's getting jealous at all the attention the owl punch is getting, LOL!) but I think it makes a gorgeous Robin Red Breast here.

Not the best photo I'm afraid - I forgot to take one before I put them all in envelopes, so had to snap this one at the restaurant where we had our Christmas get together! It does look much better IRL.

We all wore something Christmassy on our heads to the dinner, so I'll share with you how crazy I looked in my selection, seen here with Lynne. We were voted the best two!

Saw these glasses at our Reject Shop and couldn't resist them! Lynne's Xmas lights necklace lit up, so she was flashing all night. It was loads of fun and I'm looking forward to another great year of crafting with all my lovely ladies.

Back soon with some non-Christmas goodies! Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

The Owls Have It

For classes next week my ladies will be having a hoot and making some owl cards. They are very similar to ones I've done before, but I have simplified them a little so the beginners class won't have much trouble (I hope!).

Firstly, one that can be used for an engagement, wedding or anniversary:

Next a get well card - and the ladies DEMANDED my doctor and nurse owls!

The three wise owls are very popular too and whoooo could possibly resist them in a peek-a-boo card?

The leaves are from the Leaves #2 die and I've used my new woodgrain background stamp. Don't you love the paper on their tummies? So perfect for owls - it's from the Elegant Soiree set.

Have I persuaded you to get this punch yet? More owl ideas coming, so stay tuned! Thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez

Older and Wiser

I have seen a few cards around with the owl punch being used for a "Three Wise Monkeys" kind of card and love the idea, so I wanted to do one myself but needed a theme. Once I decided to use the Celebrations designer papers on my owls, that gave me the idea to make a birthday card that makes fun of getting older. This is a type of card I love to give! LOL! Especially to my DH, who is 10 years my senior!

I had to print the sentiment and inside page on the computer as I don't have stamps that say what I wanted. But I had such fun making up my no-evil owls!!! Here they are:

The balloons on the inside are from the set Party This Way, which matches the Celebrations papers. Don't you just LOVE how SU co-ordinates things this way? Gotta love it!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez

3 sleeps to go ...

Well, I don't know about you guys, but I am getting pretty darned excited about the new catalogue! I can't wait to get my hands on those gorgeous new colours and play with new stamps and punches and Big Shot paraphenalia! My wish list was revised AGAIN yesterday and I think it might stay as it is until Wednesday, but you never know!

It's only 2 sleeps until our Blog Hop, so I hope you'll be back here Tuesday at 9.00 pm to see what the gals at Stampers Anonymous SU have got cooked up for you. I am sure looking forward to seeing what they've all made, they are such a creative bunch.

DD12's team played a brilliant game of netball on Saturday and won their semi-final, so it's the preliminary finals next weekend. Unfortunately I will miss it, as I'm off to Melbourne to visit DD18 for a few days, so I've told her (DD12, that is) that they have to win so I can see them in the Grand Final the following week! They have done spectacularly well for a team who never won a single game last season! Brilliant job Wobbegongs and good luck for the prelims!

Meanwhile, here's a couple of Christmas cards to see you through until the Blog Hop ...

The bird punch makes a great dove bringing back the olive branch. Sahara Sand with Night of Navy and Whisper White. I used a small brown half pearl for the eye; gives it great dimension.

The pinecone stamp from Autumn Days teamed up with embossed Kiwi Kiss and a touch of Chocolate Chip. Simple, but looks terrific IRL.

Thanks for calling in. See you Tuesday!

Cheers
Kez

Ornamental Part 2

Thanks for calling in today! I have some more things to show you from our Stamp Camp in the Hunter Valley. Here are a few more items from my presentation highlighting the versatility of the ornament punch that we hope will be in our new catalogue on 1st September.

Today's samples keep to the Christmas theme - firstly a simple card with other punches and the alphabet dies from the mini together with Baroque Motifs:

But you can also make other Christmas projects, such as this super cute elf peeking out from behind some presents (created by Andrea Walford):

The next two items are the ones that my team mates and their guests had the chance to make for themselves, firstly a Christmas cardinal using the bird punch (created by Lyn Pratt) and then a choral angel (created by Sandi MacIver):

More items and photos from Stamp Camp coming soon plus more Christmas items coming as I prepare for my second month of Stamp-a-Stack classes.

Cheers
Kez

Rosebud Forever

I've been having another play with my wonderful 2 step bird punch - is this or is this not an amazing little punch?

Today I've been experimenting with rosebuds and followed a tutorial posted by Lynette here on her blog. I'm happy with the rosebuds but am not completely sure about my card - to me the top white portion needs something, maybe embossing? It just looks a little stark I think, so I'd love to hear what you think. Does it need something or would that be overkill? Please help! Leave me a comment to tell me your opinion.

Cheers
Kez

A Feast of Brayering and Birds

A bunch of us are getting together for a stamp day this weekend as we can't make it to the Stampin' Up! Convention. We are doing some projects and making swaps and generally going to have just as much fun - if not more! - than those who are going to the real thing.

I am doing brayering with the ladies and I picked two cards from Michelle Zindorf, the Master of Brayering (Mistress of Brayering just doesn't sound right somehow!) to CASE. They both use the wonderful 2 step bird punch (which you might have seen once or twice before on my blog, he he!!) at opposite ends of the seasonal spectrum. As luck would have it, the challenge over at Just Add Ink this week is to use one of the techniques they have shown on their blog hop, so these two brayered cards fit perfectly for that challenge.

Firstly here is my CASE of Michelle's 'Warm day in the field':

Colours in this one are Apricot Appeal, Really Rust and Bravo Burgundy. A very simple card but very striking.

Then I attempted 'Out in the frosty field' and I have to admit it took two tries till I was happy with it, and even then I made a couple of mistakes! Never mind, live and learn eh?! Here is my version of Michelle's beautiful card:

So for my swaps I decided to stick with the theme of brayering and birds and picked this card:

Well, thanks for stopping by. I hope you get the chance to sit and create something today; it's a damn sight cheaper than a shrink and much more fun! LOL!

Cheers
Kez

More Birds and Bees

I forgot last week to show you another bee card we made in class using Just Buzzin' By. I wanted a simple one for my beginner stampers to cope with, so this is what we made:

Materials used:

• stamps - Just Buzzin' By
• card & paper - whisper white, basic black, summer sun, Pink Flamingo DSP
• other - dimensionals
• non SU - daisy punch, small circle punch

Next week my Lana Ladies are making cards using the 2 step bird punch. A couple of them I have posted earlier (see here) but I came up with another one today. This is another card with tulips using Cottage Wall papers (my ladies love these!). Layout inspired by Susan Joyce.

Materials used:

• stamps - Tiny Tags
• card & paper - old olive, rich razzleberry, orchid opulence, whisper white, Cottage Garden DSP
• other - tiny tag punch, scallop edge punch, 2 step bird punch, dimensionals, old olive grosgrain ribbon, sponge daubers, Big Shot
• non SU - nestabilities dies

Hope you like them! Thanks for dropping by and have a great day.

Cheers
Kez

The Birds and The Bees

This post was written yesterday but I had ... ahem! ... issues, shall we say? ... with Blogger and uploading photos, which I found ... cough! ... rather exasperating (this is a public forum, after all, but those who know me can substitute other words in there!) ... and now, 24 hours later, I can finally upload. So, if it says today it means yesterday and tomorrow means today - alright? Carry on!

Whenever I get a new stamp set the first thing I do is browse blogs and splitcoaststampers to find samples of cards using that set, then I save the ones I really like on my computer. These are used as inspiration and most times act as a springboard for my brain to come up with a design - it might be the colours, layout or technique used that appeals to me.

But occasionally I like the sample card so much that I pretty much want to copy it just as it is, sometimes with minor changes. This is the case with the cards I made today.

My Lana ladies asked to make cards using some cute little bees, from a set called Just Buzzin' By. It is an SU set but is not available in Australia yet, hopefully it will be in the new catalogue in September - it's quite versatile and great fun.

Here are the cards I made today; the first one is cased from Christine Creations and the second cased from Mary Ann K, both with minor changes.

The honey looks almost real when you add some crystal effects! Yum!

And here are another two using this set that I made some time ago (so regular viewers may have seen them before, sorry!).

My problem is now I am having a lot of trouble deciding which two to make in class this week! Help me out by letting me know which two are your favs!

The ladies also requested to make the brayered bird reflection card I made for the blog hop (shown again below) so it's going to be birds and bees this week! That's where the title for this post comes from - not what you were thinking, is it???!!! LOL!

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to help me choose two cards!

Cheers

Kez

Variations on a Theme

There's nothing quite like getting fixated on a card style...!

This morning I was quietly admiring my quick and simple bird card from the other day (see this post) and I decided to try some different colours. So Saffron sprang to mind first and when I was thinking what colour to put with it, somehow a sneaky purple worked its way in there! So here's quick and simple bird card No. 2 with So Saffron and Perfect Plum and just a little touch of bling!

Then I got really adventurous - I added more colours, flipped the design sideways (woo hoo!) and even went two-tone on the bird! Wowser, living on the dangerous side now!!! Here's quick and simple bird card No. 3 with Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Chocolate Chip and a dash of Kiwi Kiss:

Well, as you all know, one of the rules in papercrafting is you always have an odd number, so I just HAD to make another quick and simple bird card, didn't I? For this one I had it in my mind that I wanted to use Sahara Sand and Basic Black. With no paper in SS, I made my own background using the Very Vintage wheel, which I am now LOVING in this colour. I read on a blog or chat group somewhere recently that Blush Blossom is a card colour they almost never use and I realised I am a bit the same; I use the ink pad endlessly as my skin tone when watercolouring, but hardly ever use the cardstock, so I have set myself a challenge to use it more often and here it is as my accent colour. The ribbons of course are "contraband" as SU doesn't have BB ribbon (and now never will, sadly).

I think this one is my favourite of the three. Hope you like them too.

Non SU materials used: peach ribbons, adhesive pearl, adhesive rhinestone, rhinestone buckle.

Thanks for calling in, have a great day.

Cheers

Kez

Quick and Simple

The card I made last night was inspired by none other than Linda Ronstadt (Queen of Rock in my day).

OK, I can see you're confused. Well, on Sunday I was driving back from Melbourne all by myself and to keep myself awake and, let's face it, amused, I was singing along to some music ... yes, yes, I was singing quite loudly! But I had the windows up to protect other drivers! (At least one of the perks of driving by yourself is that you get to listen to ALL your own CDs and don't have to "share" with teens!) On one of my mixed compilations was an old favourite by Linda called Blue Bayou. Hands up those who remember it!

Now can you see where this is going? That's right (top marks!), I dragged out last year's in colour Blue Bayou to team up with Baja Breeze on a very quick and simple card using my new fav punch, the 2 step bird. Take a lookie:

Non SU product used - adhesive pearl

OMG, that's so cute, I hear you say - I know! sometimes I even amaze myself!!!! LOL! And here's the inside:

No, don't keep looking down here for more - that's all, just a quick one - this post is called Quick and Simple you know!

Cheers

Kez

Stampers Anonymous Autumn/Winter Mini Blog Hop + Blog Candy

Hi everyone and a very warm welcome to the beautiful Blue Mountains in NSW. Tonight the Stampers Anonymous team plus special guest stamper are pleased to show you projects using products from Stampin' Up!'s new mini catalogue which goes live to you tomorrow, 1st April.

If you have just come from Sally Williams, you are in the right place, but if you are starting here don't worry; there will be a link at the end of this post to take you on to the next stop on the tour and you can continue around all 14 blogs until you end up back here. Just in case of cyber mishaps, there will be a list of the team and links to their blogs at the end of my post.

We are also offering two lucky people some BLOG CANDY; to be eligible to win you must

1. leave some comment love on EVERY blog on the tour (please be sure to leave your FULL NAME so I can identify you clearly if you are one of the lucky winners!)
2. email me, Kerry, to tell me that you have left 14 comments and would like to be in to win!
3. Blog candy is available to Australian residents only
4. Entry is open until midnight, 5th April 2010
5. Other SU demos are welcome to enter

So, without further ado, on to some projects!

Although the new mini contains many gorgeous things that I just adore, tonight I want to give you a taste of what you can do with the Extra Large Two Step Bird punch. This is such a versatile design (as you'll soon see!) and the new style punch is great; easy to push and locks flat for storage. Fantastic job, SU!

The first project I made using this punch is a wedding card, as one of my regular customers mentioned she needs a few wedding cards this year. It's a very simple design as I want my beginners class to be able to make it easily and I've also used the Textured Impressions Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder:

To add a bit more of a challenge, I used one of my favourite techniques - brayering. The negative of the punched out part is used as a template for sponging in the reflection of the bird.After seeing some fantastic work by Ann Fitzgerald where she uses layering and turns the simple bird into a gorgeous chickadee, I decided to have a go at making some birds we regularly see here in the Blue Mountains, rainbow lorikeets. These brilliantly coloured birds are often in our back garden and I adore their colours and cheeky behaviour! Now, I know I haven't got the right shape beak and I've ignored the feet altogether, but I'm quite happy overall with my lorikeets and their birdhouse (made with Becky Roberts' milk carton design). Yes, I did make many layers for the roof with the scallop edge punch, and yes, it did take ages! But it's worth it, I think; hope you like it too:
OK, so far so good, but when is a bird not a bird?

Well, firstly, it can become a tulip:

This card uses the new designer papers called Cottage Wall and the colours are Rich Razzleberry, Orchid Opulence and Old Olive. The tulips were inspired by Julia Bettencourt and the vase can be made from the Holiday Windows Movers and Shapers. A "Teneale" bow and build-a-brad complete the ensemble.

Then the bird becomes a heliconia (also designed by Ann Fitzgerald). Did you know this is an Easter flower in Hawaii?

And lastly, this versatile bird can also become part of Chris the caterpillar:

Isn't it just the cutest? This is made from a number of punches and was designed by Gretchen Barron. Too adorable! My DD11 said "talk about puppy dog eyes: it's only a card and it could make me do anything it wanted!" LOL!

Well, that's all from me! I hope you have enjoyed seeing the versatility of the 2 step bird punch and that I've inspired you to think outside the box and come up with some stunning designs of your own.

Thanks for stopping by and please remember to leave a comment to brighten my day and be in to win some blog candy. Now it's time to see what gorgeous creations Fiona Harvey has in store for you (just click on her name).

Cheers!

Kez

List of blog hop participants (there's a link on each name to take you to their blog if you get lost):

Kerry Bunting (me)

Fiona Harvey

Teneale Williams

Liam Pucher

Marelle Taylor

Juliette Chapman

Sue Dean

Meighan Wheller

Chary Belfield

Nikki Stalker

Sharon Wilson

Kirrily Matthews

Robyn Irving

Sally Williams