Blue on Blue

I've been having a lot of fun with my brayers recently as I am doing a demonstration on that technique shortly (more on that later) and I've been inspired by all the triple layer cards around at the moment. I only wanted to use two layers and still align the stamping, and I thought "why not brayer on my second layer?"

So here is the result of all that thinking!

Materials used:

• stamps - Just Believe, Field Flowers
• card - bashful blue, basic black, whisper white
• inks - bashful blue, marina mist, night of navy, black StazOn
• other - brayer, dimensionals, basic black satin ribbon

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

More Believers

Here are the other two Just Believe cards we're making in class this week.

A bright one, for this I've teamed daffodil delight with always artichoke and whisper white. My first attempt at a double bow! I kinda like it, even though you almost need shades on!

I adore this one, CASEd from Julie Davison. Soft suede, tangerine tango, old olive and very vanilla are the colours used. Simple yet elegant, although I'm thinking maybe the wider lace would look better. I've popped the sentiment panel up on dimensionals for some depth.

Such a versatile set and definitely one of the best in the catalogue, IMO.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez

Just Believe

In this week's class we are using the stamp set Just Believe, which is one of my favourites from our current catalogue. Here's one of the cards we'll be making:

The edges of the perfect plum card have been sponged with white to soften the colour a little. The main panel was inspired by a card by Monika Davis.

As I've used three of the four colours in this week's Just Add Ink challenge, I thought I'd enter it for that. Not sure if I'm allowed to just drop one colour, but I'll soon find out!

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez

Rollercoasters and Diggers

I have been riding such a rollercoaster of emotions since the earthquake in Christchurch last week. Some days life is normal; other days I feel so depressed and tears are never far beneath the surface. I can't read a newspaper article or see photos of Chch without crying. I found an article recently describing life post-quake in a suburban street - and was amazed to discover it was the street where we lived. It's here if you're interested in reading it. I simply can't imagine how the people who are living through this are coping emotionally and as for those who have lost loved ones ... well, I just don't know the words to adequately express my sorrow.

One thing that does help is the support and fellowship of friends, and I sincerely thank all of you who have left kind messages. Keeping busy is another help of course, and this week I have been finalising preparations for another Special Event for Australian troops serving in combat zones such as Afganistan, etc. You may remember that my wonderful customers and friends made over 350 Christmas cards for the troops last year; on Sunday we will be making Mother's Day cards to send so our Diggers can send them home.

Here are the cards I've prepared. They have been kept simple as we are making them like a Stamp-a-Stack and I'm hoping we'll get 200 completed. Most of the materials were generously donated by Stampin' Up!

I'm looking forward to a fun day for a very worthy cause.

I'll be back later today with the winners of the blog candy. Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez

Gimme A Break!

I've been making so many Christmas cards and projects that I just had to have a break from all that red, green and tinsel and make some "normal" cards! LOL! So here's a couple I came up with.

Firstly an old favourite gets an airing again, this time teamed up with some new loves.

 Materials used:

• stamps - Just Believe, All A Flutter
• card, paper - basic black, Newsprint DSP
• ink - black StazOn, crumb cake
• markers - pink pirouette, pretty in pink, crumb cake
• punch - scallop trim border
• other - Victoria crochet trim, pink pirouette brads, dimensionals

DD12 said it is 'gorgeous' and 'elegant', which is just what I was going for, so I'm happy!

Next I made a birthday card for my big bro over in EnZed. I cased this card from Andrea Walford and just added in a couple of touches of my own. Not sure if my brother is in to bright, cheerful cards, but DH loves it! (Gotta remember that for next year!)

inside the card:

Materials used:

• stamps - Word Play, Party This Way
• card, paper - pacific point, real red, whisper white, old olive, Celebrations DSP
• ink - pacific point, basic black
• other - dimensionals, pacific point brads, corner rounder punch

I'm off to Melbourne again for a few days to help DD18 pack up and move out of her uni lodgings, so I'll be back next week with more goodies! Have a great week and thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez

A Wee Bit Arty Farty

Hey ho stampers! I hope you are enjoying a warm, sunny day where you are - we are here in the beautiful Blue Mountains! Mind you, I believe thunder storms are predicted for later on, so I'd best enjoy it while I can! A long and rambling entry today, so if you're in the mood for an epic, read on!

Today's card is what I call "a wee bit arty farty"! It turned out that way through a series of mishaps - or rather, things not turning out quite like I thought they would ... here's the skinny:

While browsing through the IB&C I noted that the Xmas scrapbooking kit uses Cherry Cobbler (heart!), Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla and Marina Mist. Hmmm, I thunk, I'd quite like to try that combo. Picture thinking cap on, trying to decide what stamps to use with these colours ... decided on Just Believe with a brayered background. Next dilemma: how to brayer blue without obliterating the green and red? Solution: clear emboss the flower first, then brayer over the top. So that's what I did, I inked my stamp with Versamark and then coloured with markers over it. First mishap! Markers do NOT like going over Versamark ink. Result? A bit of a blurry, blotchy effect. One to Murphy! Ah well, soldier on!

So I made my mask and brayered the sky with Baja Breeze and Marina Mist. It worked OK over the flowers, no problems with colours running or anything. One to Kez!

Then I got adventurous and decided to try my newly-made-up shimmer mist for a glittery effect. I have practised a couple of times but STILL got the large blobs, so again Murphy scored one and I got a bit of a patchy sparkle over my focal image!

Alright, next I stamped En Francais in Marina Mist over my vanilla background piece. Waaaaayy too prominent, so I embossed it to see if that toned it down a bit. Nah, Murphy scores again! OK, flipped it over and tried to get a vintagey/patchy look on the other side from whatever ink still remained on the stamp. Hmm, not much, but you'll see the merest hint on there! Half to Murphy, begrudgingly!

Then, the final touch and my piece-de-resistance! Some Cherry Cobbler (heart!) ribbon! No, I have not been shopping over in the good old US of A, but found some ribbon at a nearby habby shop that is a perfect match - and thus, am now in Cherry Cobbler heaven! LOL!

Another one to me - and the final score? Well, I think Murphy won that round. So, my card turned out not at all as perfect as I planned. Still, when I look at it, I quite like the soft, blurry, arty-farty kind of effect I have ended up with! Maybe Murphy should call in again some time .....!

Hey, if you've stuck with me for this long, now you deserve to see the card, yeah? Feast ....

Thanks for stopping by - and for valiantly struggling through my ramblings! Have a great day and watch out for Murphy!

Cheers
Kez

The Ones That John West Rejects

Everyone knows the advert for John West salmon, right? Today's card began with the main image panel, which I had rejected from another project I was working on. It wasn't right for what I wanted, but I couldn't just bin it, so eventually it became a card.

I tried the colour combo of old olive, cherry cobbler (heart!) and peach parfait and I quite like it. The sentiment is from Word Play and the flowers are of course that GORJUS set Just Believe. As I wanted the main panel to be the focus, I used simple patterned paper behind it (peach parfait) and added some PP ribbon and cherry cobbler (heart!) buttons! Ooooooo, purty! Couldn't decide if the card base needed something and if so, what, so just left it plain with sponged edges and overall I'm reasonably happy with the finished product. Poor little John West reject! LOL!

Hope you're having a great long weekend and have remembered to put your clocks forward!

Cheers
Kez

Ink Wash

I wanted to try out a new technique that I found while surfing on SCS. It's called Ink Wash Faux Embossing (although personally I think Faux Bleaching is more accurate) and WOW! I love the effect!

For my first card I used the medallion stamp with Concord Crush, one of the new In Colours. Here's how it turned out (excuse my crappy photo; looks much nicer IRL!):

Next I tried it on Night of Navy and added touches of Sahara Sand. The sentiment feature is from Just Believe, rapidly becoming one of my new favs.

Of course, the medallion makes any card look great, but this is a really pretty effect. Like it? Here's how I did it:

• I began with a piece of whisper white card
• I applied my Concord Crush or Night of Navy ink pad directly to the white card, covering it entirely
• I inked my medallion stamp with Versamark ink
• then I sprayed Stampin' Mist liberally over the medallion stamp (you've got to be generous or it doesn't work as well)
• I stamped the medallion down on to the inked up card and pressed firmly
• I used my heat gun to speed up drying

Why don't you give it a go yourself? I think you will love experimenting with a variety of colours and seeing how different they all look.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez

New Stuff

NEW STUFF! I have been preparing cards for classes and having soooooooo much fun using new stamps and my new love - yup, you guessed it! - Cherry Cobbler.

The first card is a case from a gorgeous card by Lynn Pratt which I simplified. Crumb cake, cherry cobbler and always artichoke are the colours used and the stamp set is Just Believe.

GORJUS!

Next up I have used Bella Toile, a new background stamp that I have been totally in love with for over a year and am sooooooooooo glad it finally made it to our shores. I stamped it with - yes, you're right again! - cherry cobbler, then embossed it. The flowers are made from the new Flower Fusion die and there's touches of crumb cake again for accent. (Seriously, all this talk of cherry cobbler and crumb cake makes a person hungry!) The sentiment comes from Perfect Punches.

Well, more cards to prepare ... how sad! LOL! Hope you're having fun playing with your new stuff too! Thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez

New, new, new and old.

Good morning! Just a quick post today as I have a list a mile long of things I have to get done today! Here's a bright and cheerful card using three new products and an old one.

The colours used are three of our new In Colours - peach parfait, concord crush and pear pizzazz. The sentiment is new set Perfect Punches and the pressies are from this year's (old) SAB set, Happy Moments. The punched edge uses the new scallop trim border punch and the DSP is peach parfait patterned paper. I added some matching embroidery cotton to tie my present bundle.

Hope you have a good day and thanks for dropping in.

Cheers
Kez