Superhero Hybrid

A friend of mine has a birthday coming up soon and as she is a Marvel geek like me, I really wanted to make her a superhero card. SU had a great set called 'Calling All Heroes' a couple of years back but we didn't get it here in Australia, sadly, so when the opportunity came to buy it on MDS I leapt at it. Inspired by a card by Ilina Crouse, here's my hybrid:

Materials used:

• stamps - Calling all Heroes (digital), One of a Kind (digital)
• card - basic black, whisper white, retired Bermuda bay dsp, digital crushed curry dsp
• other - 35mm circle punch, 38mm circle punch, Dimensionals, scissors, cloud embossing folder (retired), Big Shot, computer, printer, MDS software

I'm pretty sure she's going to love it; I know I do!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

80 Years Young

I was asked recently to make a card for a gentleman about to celebrate his 80th birthday. My brief was that his favourite colour is red and he really likes stripes - so naturally, the Nautical Expedition papers came immediately to mind. Assured that he does like boats, I went with that theme and paired it up with a great quote from the Daring Adventure set. It's an A4 sized card (ie four times the usual size) so that all the people at the celebration event can sign it.

The stamping part was done on MDS so I could increase the size enough to suit my large card. It also gave me the advantage of being able to really get the effect of that great ship graphic. I added a couple of retired brads and a chipboard anchor.

Materials used:

• stamps - The Open Sea, Daring Adventure (MDS)
• card - nautical expedition dsp, whisper white, midnight muse, purchased A3 navy card
• other - deco labels framelits, Big Shot, dimensionals, cherry cobbler bakers twine, brads, chipboard anchor

On the inside I put a message that continues the adventure theme:

When I took it around to my client I was given three excited hugs, so I'm assured that she likes it! Hopefully the birthday boy will too.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Being With You

Phew! It's 36 degrees C here today - I've just had a dip in the pool and am sitting in my togs (swimmers) and towel enjoying being wet and cool for a while. I have no doubt at all that I'll have another dip before bedtime!

DD21 is melting in 41 degree heat down in Melbourne, while DD15 is no doubt enjoying her much more manageable 13 degree day in London! Not sure who's got the best of it!!! lol

Luckily I spent the afternoon in an air conditioned room showing one of my lovely ladies (and her helpful DH) the basics of MDS. As part of my preparation I created a simple scrapbook layout so I thought I may as well show it to you.

This layout covers basic techniques of:

• adding designer paper as a background
• adding designer paper as a page layer
• adding and resizing embellishments 
• inserting, positioning and matting photos
• adding a punch
• using paper fill in a punched shape
• adding a stamp
• grouping elements together
• saving and printing

I do find MDS pretty easy to get to know and have used it a number of times to make hybrid cards in class, which always impresses my lovely ladies! 

Hope it's not too hot (or too cold) where you are! Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

Miss You Already

Last night DD15 left on a school trip to France, Belgium and England for 24 days. Right now she is en route to Paris from a short stopover in Dubai and I am already missing her like crazy!

The house seems very quiet and I had a lousy night's sleep wondering how the long flight was going. It's quite common for insulin pumps to be affected by high altitudes apparently and so I was worrying if her BGL levels would rise very high and how she would be coping and feeling … you know, standard mum worrying stuff!

Through the beauty of modern technology and an app called FlightRadar24, we could watch her flight progress and actually see a "plane's-eye" view of her landing in Dubai earlier today. Isn't technology amazing?

Here's a photo of her with her baggage all ready to go off to the airport:

Anyway, I was inspired to make a card. Not for her exactly, as I obviously can't give it to her, but just as a way of expressing myself. I used MDS for the main sentiment panel and of course you will realise why I put an Eiffel Tower in there (she's visiting that later today, Paris time).

Materials used:

• stamps - Artistic Etchings, Really Good Greetings (both MDS)
• card - whisper white, cherry cobbler, crushed curry, smoky slate, various dsp
• other - Big Shot, Chalk Talk framelits, crushed curry chevron ribbon, cherry cobbler baker's twine, 3 heart punch, dimensionals, rhinestones, chevron embossing folder

Hopefully we'll hear from her in a day or two if she can spare a few minutes from all the exciting activities they'll be doing! Meanwhile, thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

December Creative Crew Challenge - Holiday Focus

This month's Holiday Focus is National Chocolate Day on Dec 24th - seems to be tailor-made for me! I particularly love the wording of this challenge - "While eating the best chocolate you can find, make a card using chocolate chip on it. If you CASEd someone fabulous, give credit to this wonderful stamper."

I took those instructions very seriously and while I was gobbling down chocolate creating, channelled the creative genius of not one, but two wonderful crafters. I loved on sight Jackie Topa's little Lindor elf and wanted immediately to combine it with the brilliant idea of Michelle Surette to make a slight alteration to one of my favourite Christmas greetings.

So here's my project, which uses both chocolate and chocolate chip!

Materials used:

• stamps and dsp - Merry Little Christmas designer kit (MDS)
• card - chocolate chip, whisper white, real red, blush blossom
• punches - pennant, Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Merry Minis Ornament, Owl Builder, Word Window, Small Oval, Small Scallop Circle
• other - chalk talk framelits, bitty banners framelits, Big Shot, stylish stripes embossing folder, sponge dauber, dimensionals

Here's a closer look - first little Alfie:

Punches used: word window, small scallop circle, small oval, pennant, itty bitty, owl, merry minis.

And the card:

Please note that no Lindor chocolates were harmed during the making of this project (I made sure they didn't feel any pain!!!!!)

Thanks for calling in today - why not visit the Creative Crew Challenge Gallery at SCS and see what other chocolate delights await you!

Cheers

Kez

Creative Crew November Challenge - Scrapbook Focus

This month we are to journey down Memory Lane and create a scrapbook page or 3D item showcasing a favourite childhood memory.

Growing up on air force bases in New Zealand, one of the things I really loved doing was attending the base cinema for a Saturday afternoon matinee. Many Saturdays would see my brothers and I watching old war movies, Disney classics or whatever else they were running. (I think my mum really enjoyed the break!) In those days we had to stand before the movie started while they played 'God Save the Queen' - if you're old enough to remember that, you've probably got as many grey hairs as me!

It used to cost us 10c for a ticket and we would have 5c to spend at the Candy Bar - and 5c bought a lot of lollies in those days! Sherbet bags with licorice straws were one of my favourites, especially the lemon flavour.

Ah memories! Anyway, here is the layout I created in MDS. I Googled movie posters to use and the movie reel and ticket images are non SU.

Materials used:

• stamps - Schoolbook Serif Alphabet (MDS)
• punches - star (MDS)
• card - Sahara sand (MDS)

I hope you've enjoyed my trip down memory lane and my challenge projects for this month. Do visit Splitcoaststampers to see what the other design team members came up with and of course, we would love you to take part in a challenge or two along with us.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Creative Crew October Challenge - Scrapbook and More

CCREW1013SF -- Scrapbook focus: October is Self-Promotion Month. Show us how awesome you are on a scrapbook page, mixed media project or with This and That!


This one had me waaaaaay out of my comfort zone - promoting myself is certainly not something I feel comfortable doing. I thought it would take me a long time to come up with an idea for this, but my SIL gave me a hint and it all fell into place very quickly after that. Here it is, created in MDS:

Well, that's it for our challenges this month. I do hope you will visit the challenge gallery to see what the other design team members have come up with - such a range of inspiring ideas - and maybe even be inspired enough to make a project or two of your own. The link is HERE.

Thanks for visiting.

Cheers

Kez

Adore

Here's a card I made a while back, trying for a shabby chic kind of look. I love these soft colours together. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Tres Chic (MDS), Collage Curios, Lovely Little Labels, En Francais
• card - Sahara sand, soft sky, blushing bride, whisper white, patterned paper collections
• other - apothecary accents dies, Big Shot, clear embossing powder, heat tool, pearls, lace from artisan embellishment kit, paper doily, bottletop, square punch, sponge dauber, hexagon embossing folder, dimensionals, blushing bride and Sahara sand markers

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

Putting On The Hex

I've been having a play with the hexagon punch, kindly loaned to me by my mate Rob. My two cards are the same design but the colours and embellishments create a whole different look.

Firstly a card for DD21, who returned to uni in Melbourne last week after a visit that was way too short for her mama! She loves polka dots.

Materials used:

• stamps - Really Good Greetings (MDS)
• card - basic black, very vanilla, raspberry ripple, Modern Medley dsp
• other - hexagon punch, dimensionals, scallop ribbon border punch, owl punch

And DD always, always looks inside my cards to see if I've decorated in there too, so of course I had to for her card!

And my second card has a touch of Spring with some bright florals and ginghams.

Materials used:

• stamps - Really Good Greetings (MDS)
• card - island indigo, whisper white, daffodil delight, melon mambo, Gingham Garden dsp (MDS)
• other - hexagon punch, dimensionals, itty bitty punch, rhinestones, embossing stylus, shaping mat (non SU)

Now that I have had a play with it, I think this punch will get bumped up higher on my wish list!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Escape!

It's cold, wet and miserable outside today and when my computer screensaver flicked up images of sandy beaches, blue waters and lots of sunshine - well, let's just say I was really keen to go there! Then I was browsing through MDS and found a stamp that sums up perfectly how I feel. Naturally, a card was born.

Here tis:

ROFLOL!

Materials used:

• stamps - Fantabulous You (MDS), Mosaic Madness
• card - whisper white, strawberry slush, coastal cabana
• other - dimensionals, rhinestones, mosaic punch

Do you notice some sneaky peeks in there? I've used a few new colours (strawberry slush, crisp cantaloupe, Bermuda bay, pear pizzazz, coastal cabana) as well as a new stamp set called Mosaic Madness and the matching mosaic punch.

I'm heading off to Melbourne tomorrow and I'm pretty sure the weather there is definitely not going to be in any way tropical, but they say a change is as good as a rest - and I get to spend a few days with my gorgeous DD21, so I know we will have a ball together even if it rains every day.

See you when I get back! Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez

Honey, Honey, How You Thrill Me

(OK, admit it, you sang that as the ABBA song now didn't you?)

For class tomorrow I've used honeycomb as a theme and made three completely different cards showcasing the versatility of this pattern.

First off I went "the whole hog" with dsp segments inside the honeycomb embossing folder. Black and vanilla have been teamed with returning colour Blushing Bride to create this gorgeous confection:

(I know my friend Robby will be salivating over this one; like me, she loves black and vanilla together.)

Materials used:

• stamps - Blooming with Kindness
• card - blushing bride, basic black, very vanilla, Love Letter dsp (retired)
• other - apothecary accents die, clear embossing powder, heat tool, sponge daubers, dimensionals, Big Shot, honeycomb E/F
• non SU - paper doily, Cheery Lynn honeycomb die

My second card is a bright and cheerful hybrid and features plenty of honeycomb shapes. The white honeycomb was cut with a (non SU) die and attached over bashful blue card, then the paper pieces added in.

Materials used:

• stamps - MDS
• card - whisper white, real red, bashful blue, various patterned papers in real red, so saffron, marina mist and Pacific point
• other - honeycomb E/F, Big Shot, dimensionals, real red ribbon, two way glue
• non SU - Cheery Lynn honeycomb die, tweezers

Our third card is one you've seen before; this one was a Top 3 Pick in the Colours and Sketches challenge a couple of weeks ago.

A little birdie tells me there just might be something honeycomb in the new catalogue that I will be happy to see - not long to wait now!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez