Being Green - CAS on Friday Challenge #206

Welcome everyone; you're just in time for another challenge with CAS on Friday. 

This is Challenge #206 and the theme is GREEN AS THE MAIN COLOUR.

My card features a little masking and ink blending, which you all know I just love. Here tis:

Materials used:

• stamps - Inspired by Nature (SU retired)
• card - whisper white, mossy meadow
• other - stitched rectangle die, Big Shot, 1" circle punch, post it notes, small bird die, blending brush, craft foam, Tim Holtz small talk sticker

We'd love you to join in the fun and create a mainly green card. You can also check out what the rest of the design team have made to inspire you, just click on the link above.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kerry

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

A Touch of New Colour

There was great excitement at my place yesterday morning as my pre-order goodies from the new 2011-2012 Idea Book and Catalogue arrived on my doorstep!

I managed to get the packs all opened and drool over them for a while before I had to head off to work (gotta do the grind to pay for all the new things, lol), but I couldn't wait to play once I got home. For my first card I've used two retiring stamp sets with three new in colours and kept it fairly simple.

LOVING Wisteria Wonder already! I know lots of my ladies are going to be thrilled with this gorgeous shade.

Materials used:

• stamps - Bella Toile, Friends 24/7
• card - Wisteria Wonder, Calypso Coral, Whisper White
• ink - black StazOn, wisteria wonder, calypso coral, lucky limeade
• punches - 32 mm circle, 35 mm circle, scallop trim border
• other - vintage wallpaper embossing folder, dimensionals, blender pen, sponge dauber

Of course I had to have another play and this time I was inspired by a card by Heather Telford. Heather does gorgeous one or two layer cards with sponging and masking and it was the colours and sponging on her card that inspired me. (You can visit her from the link on my blog list.)

Materials used:

• stamps - Inspired by Nature, Teeny Tiny Sentiments
• card - lucky limeade, whisper white, pool party
• other - stamp-a-ma-jig, dimensionals, sponges

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Brayering 101

My Sunday ladies - feeling proud of their recent upgrade from beginner to intermediate, LOL - are giving brayering a try this week, so I've made some cards with simple brayering to start them off.

Firstly a floral vision in pinks with some watercolouring thrown in for extra fun. I cased a card I made at stamp camp a couple of years back. Looks more gorgeous IRL, the subtle pinks don't show well in my photo.

Materials used:

• stamps - Best Yet, Fabulous Florets
• card - pink pirouette, whisper white, chocolate chip, watercolour paper
• inks - pink pirouette, blushing bride, chocolate chip
• other - stamp-a-ma-jig, dimensionals, blushing bride marker, brayer

Next a masculine card and I've given the sailboat a rest this time in favour of the Motorcycle a la carte stamp. Two of my ladies' husbands are big into bikes, so they will love this one. I have cased a card by Kristine McNickle as I just love her colour combination and simple design.

Materials used:

• stamps - Motorcycle, Best Yet
• card - whisper white, river rock, basic black
• inks - peach parfait, river rock, always artichoke, basic black, black StazOn
• other - dimensionals, 35 mm punch, 38 mm punch (non SU), brayer, Versamark pen, clear embossing powder, heat gun

And lastly a card using my go-to set when I want a stunning card using almost any technique - Inspired by Nature. This one was cased from Laurie F.

Materials used:

• stamps - Inspired by Nature
• card - very vanilla, basic black, more mustard
• inks - so saffron, more mustard, cajun craze
• other - dimensionals, stamp-a-ma-jig, brayer, sponge dauber

If you fancy an intro class in brayering at your place, why not email me here - sorry, won't go outside state borders (unless of course, you pay the airfare!) LOL!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Pencil Magic

(second post today - scroll down for earlier post)

Last week my Sunday ladies learned the Black Magic technique - so simple and so effective.

Here are the cards they made:

This one was inspired by a card by Deb Valder and I've used "kerry cobbler", basic black and white with the Just Believe stamp set. In the background are En Francais (LOVE this stamp) with a non-SU harlequin design.

Next up I dragged out retired set Live Like You Mean It and used a gorgeous nestabilities shape for highlighting my main panel. The spotted background paper is from Love Letters and I just sponged some purple on to match my flowers. I shaped my "banner" sentiment with my bone folder to get it to sit how I wanted it.

Last but not least, I don't think you can do this technique without using either Upsy Daisy or Inspired by Nature - both sets were just "made" for this style! I chose IBN and here's how it ended up:

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez

Playing With My Brayer

Had an urge to dust off my brayer, so I pulled out the fabulous Sail Away again - so great for male cards - and brayered a moon rising on the horizon using marina mist and night of navy for the sea and more mustard, cajun craze and kerry cobbler for the sky.

The stamped background on the mustard is Old World Map, a retired SU stamp borrowed from the lovely Lynda, and the DSP is Nautical Expedition (not released in Aus but PLEASE put it in our new catty! with the matching stamp set, preferably!!!).

Now, I think I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I have used the in colour Poppy Parade. It's not really my cup of tea - it's no kerry cobbler, let's face it! - but I made a concerted effort to give it an airing with this card.

I brayered with daffodil delight, peach parfait and poppy parade and I think they have blended really well together. The bird from Every Moment was stamped in black StazOn ink and then coloured in with basic black marker, then I stamped the grass from Inspired by Nature (hope they never retire this set) using my stamp-a-ma-jig to place it just so. Some embossing with the square lattice and there's my card.

Thanks for all your kind words on my first tutorial and I hope you'll stop by again soon.

Cheers
Kez

Inspired by a Sketch

Our team has the following sketch challenge this month:

As the challenge was my idea, I thought I'd better set to and made a card! LOL! I was dying to finally try out using the scallop trim border punch for a circle or oval using Andrea Buckland's fab tutorial (here) and am very happy with how it turned out. Here's my card:

As I'm featuring Shimmer Paint and Shimmer Mist in this month's classes, I used both on this card. Both pieces of DSP have been sprayed with shimmer mist, while the petals of the flowers had shimmer paint applied over the marker ink. Here's a couple of close ups so you can see the sparkles:

Materials used: (all SU)

• stamps - Inspired by Nature, Curly Cute
• card and paper - crumb cake, basic black, very vanilla, Newsprint DSP, Jolly Holiday DSP
• punches - scallop trim border, square
• other - Victoria crochet trim, antique brad, dimensionals, shimmer paint, sponge daubers, circle scissors

Thanks for calling in today.

Cheers
Kez

Beginners Embossing

Today's beginner class is having fun with embossing.

First up some dry embossing using SU's beautiful Manhattan Flower embossing folder, which looks so gorgeous in rich razzleberry. I've teamed it with very vanilla and some adhesive pearls:

Same card but this time using designer series paper for the embossing, then sanding over it to bring out the white core - this makes the embossed image really "pop"! I am looking forward to all the new embossing folders coming in the new catalogue - only 16 sleeps to go!

For our first "wet" embossing we're using one of my favourite sets, Inspired by Nature, and embossing it in white on DSP. A little touch of dry embossing at the bottom of the card adds more texture. I will miss kiwi kiss after this month, sigh!

And last but not least a simple yet beautiful effect which showcases the gorgeous medallion background stamp perfectly. Embossed with white, then sponged in pink pirouette and regal rose, plus a touch of close to cocoa for accent (another colour I will really miss).

Thanks for calling in; you can brighten my day if you leave a comment!

Cheers
Kez

Satin Wings

I couldn't help it.
I just had to do some more butterflies. There's something about flowers and butterflies, isn't there? So serene. Mother Nature is truly amazing.

First up I cased a lovely card by Kirsty Brown but changed the colours completely and added in All A Flutter. I wanted to use this colour combo before these colours are gone forever ... sniff! (It's OK. I'll be alright. Ta.) This is blush blossom, cameo coral and ruby red, with a touch of choc chip.

Then I just had to use Upsy Daisy to pair with AAF. In spite of all kinds of different ideas popping in my head, I fell back to my all time fav, brayering. Just love the effects you can make with this little rubber roller! Here I have used the colours from the JAI challenge a couple of weeks back, just for something a little different - taken with teal, elegant eggplant and melon mambo. Very vibrant..

There is a song about butterflies and love and I always think of it when I use this stamp, so I thought I'd try a wedding/engagement/anniversary card. I stuck with classic black and white and added kraft, soon to be renamed Cookie Crumb! and added the gorgeous medallion in the background.

Well, that's my butterfly obsession for today! Thanks for calling in.

 
Cheers
Kez

Inspired by Endings

I've been having a play with Inspired by Nature today and tried it in a couple of colour-ways.

Firstly I used Bordering Blue and Brocade Blue (both of which are being retired, sadly) with some Always Artichoke. I also felt compelled to add the gorgeous butterfly from All a Flutter - which I had resisted buying until I made some cards with it at Teneale's, and the rest, as they say, was history. Thanks Teneale! I used the plastic bag technique to add texture and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.

I love this colour combo, it is so soft. I did, however, have to add an extra layer of Brocade Blue at the top of the flower as there wasn't enough contrast between the two shades.

Then I tried it in Bravo Burgundy (a colour I hardly ever use) with Regal Rose. I didn't do the texture on the leaves and stems, only on the flowers themselves.

The bottom layer of flowers - with just straight marker - didn't look too great, I must admit, and I wasn't very keen. But once the plastic bag texture was added to the top layer, it improved it no end, softening the colours and blending them together more, so I am happy with it in the end!

Sorry about dark photos - there's not much light left here now. Joys of winter.

Hope you have been inspired to create something today. Have a great weekend.

Cheers
Kez

Autumn play

I was having a play the other day with some Autumn colours for thank you cards. Inspired by the colours of the new papers, this was my first card:

I used my crackle background stamp in a paler colour over the top to give an authentic look; plain white just looked too stark. Can you pick where the swirl is from? That's right, Season of Joy! Not just a Christmas set!

The second one started as something completely different and evolved into this:

The shape around the sentiment is die cut from the Lots of Tags set, which I don't have YET but have ordered - hooray for birthday cash!

Hope you like them and thanks for dropping by!

Cheers

Kez

Mojo time!

It's been a while since I've done a Mojo Monday challenge so I'm a little rusty at sketches, but thought it high time I had a go. Here's this week's sketch:

I wanted something bright and cheerful and a little different, while still being rather keen on the purple/yellow combo I used a few days ago, so I've gone with the US in colours that we don't have down here ..... yet. The butterfly is from the Butterfly Prints set and matching punch from the new summer mini - gotta love matching punches! Feast your eyes on this:

Created by Kez. Stamped images copyright Stampin' Up!

I have to say that cutting lots of circles made me think about getting the new Circle Scissors ...

Materials used:

• stamps - Inspired by Nature, Butterfly Prints
• card and markers - Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, Rich Razzleberry, Soft Suede
• ribbon - Rich Razzleberry
• other - dimensionals, Big Shot, embossing folder, nestabilities, adhesive rhinestones

Thanks for dropping by!

Cheers

Kez

See, I WAS listening!

One of the things that has stuck in my mind since our Regional training day (there are more than one, I promise!) is one of our presenters saying that purple and yellow look great together. So today when I was looking for a colour combo for my faux silk sample (workshop on Saturday) I went with Elegant Eggplant and So Saffron, with a touch of Always Artichoke thrown in. And I LOVE IT!

Created by Kez. Stamped images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

I also had another play with an easel card and guess what? Yup! Bella Rose papers again! Are you sick of these yet? This time I paired them with Dreams du Jour.

Created by Kez. Stamped images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

OK, I'll give Bella Rose a rest for a while now! LOL!

Cheers

Kez

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

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

Love that Postie!

Our postie has just been and delivered not one, not two, but THREE parcels of goodies from SU! Not all for me, unfortunately (LOL!), but at least some of it was! I was very lucky to recently earn a free stamp set and that was one of the parcels. It was a difficult decision choosing what to get - DD11 was pressing for her favourites (Sock Monkey, That's Funny, Sip by Sip and Animal Crackers) and after doing a class with team-mate Liam, Cheep Talk was high in the running, but Bugs and Kisses, Thoughts and Prayers and Snow Swirled were all in with a chance too!

Then I was side tracked by Great Grads, a set I would not normally buy as I wouldn't get that much use out of it (I thought), but with daughters graduating from year 12 and year 6 this year, it was tempting ... Finally DD11 tipped the scales by pointing out that I could use it for my TAFE students - an idea that had entirely escaped my conscious thought but was so obvious once she'd said it! "Out of the mouths of babes..." as they say! LOL So Great Grads it was, which I can use every year for my classes - brilliant!

So here are my initial attempts; the first uses DD17's fav colours (and my fav papers!):

Materials:

• stamps - Great Grads
• papers - Baja Breeze, Whisper White cardstock; Parisian Breeze DSP
• inks - Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip
• other - nestabilities, 32 mm circle punch, sponge daubers, chocolate chip satin ribbon, dimensionals

Eh! I thought. It's OK but I'm not in love with it. Have another go, this time using brocade blue and night of navy (which I have decided are fantastic together). Everything went smoothly until right at the very end when I stuck on the last piece and then discovered ... I had gotten a smudge of blue ink on the white. Damn! I hate it when that happens! Usually a boo boo can be covered up with a flower or something, but not this time! I put some white gel pen over it, but this card is definitely going to have to be the "before" card and not the "after"!!! With any luck you guys won't be able to see it in the photo!

Materials:

• stamps - Great Grads
• papers - night of navy and whisper white card; brocade blue DSP (from hostess set)
• inks - brocade blue, night of navy
• other - small star punch, large star punch, brads (from stash), dimensionals, stamp-a-ma-jig
  

Last week at our team meeting I gave a demo on brayering and this morning I finally got around to using my demo piece and turning it into a card.

Materials (completely SU):

• stamps - Inspired by Nature, Sincere Salutations, Sanded
• card - basic black, pumpkin pie, old olive, whisper white
• ink - pumpkin pie, so saffron, black StazOn
• other - large oval punch, scallop oval punch, dimensionals, brayer, old olive ribbon, sponge daubers

Well, that's todays offerings. Tomorrow I will be at the Stitches and Craft Show, so if you are in the vicinity of Rosehill Racecourse, drop in to the SU stand and say hello. We'll have Make and Takes and Lucky Door Prizes, so you won't go away empty handed!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Just Go For It

Over at Creatalicious they are looking for design team members so I have decided to "throw my hat in the ring". After all, I've got nothing to lose by trying, have I? Bec created a sketch for everyone to use for an "audition" card and I had a LOT of fun working with the design and decided to go for something a little different!

Here' s the sketch:

My card incorporates some of my favourite techniques; brayering, watercolouring and paper piecing, and I've also thrown in some of my new favourite SU papers, Parisian Breeze. Just Buzzin' By is the stamp set, which that hasn't made it to our shores yet but I love it, it's so cute! I wonder how many of you can guess what I used for the paper behind the beehive? You'll laugh when you realise/find out!!! LOL!

Here's my card:

Some bling on the wings is obligatory of course!

And a simple message on the inside:

Created by Kez. Stamped images ©1990-2009 Stampin' Up! ®

Materials used:

• stamps - Just Buzzin' By, Inspired by Nature
• card and paper - Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, watercolouring paper, Parisian Breeze SDSP, Creamy Caramel
• inks - More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Brown StazOn, Creamy Caramel, Baja Breeze
• other - scallop circle punch, large oval punch, dimensionals, aquapainter, brown brads, brayer, square punch, sponge daubers, crystal effects, KindyGlitz
  

Did you work out what the paper behind the hive is? It's the backing sheet from dimensionals!!! Perfect or what? LOL!

Cheers

Kez

Just for Fun

With my July workshops over and the girls back at school, I decided to give myself a day of stamping just for fun.

Firstly as I absolutely LOVE the silhouette effect with a brayered background, I got to with the newest member of my stamp "family" (LOL!), Inspired by Nature. I've used More Mustard, Really Rust and a touch of Ruby Red.

Next just had to be a tri shutter card! These are so simple and such fun to make and I wanted to experiment with a bold one for boys as both of the cards I've made so far have been in soft, feminine colours. I'm not completely happy with it, but it will do; sometimes you just gotta lump it, eh?!

Lastly, this chicken card is for DD17, who has trial HSC exams coming up soon. It is very much tongue-in-cheek, as you may recall from this post that she is scared of our chickens. (We try not to tease her too much, but sometimes it's eggs-tra difficult not to!!!) She loves blue and brown, so I used the GORJUS new papers from the Spring Mini called Parisian Breeze. I decided to combine it with this week's Mojo Monday sketch, as I haven't done a MM for a while:

Hope she likes it, he he!!!

Well, thanks for dropping by. I hope you've had some fun in your day too.

Cheers

Kez