Tags and Bows

Today is my last class for the year and we will be making some Christmas tags and gift bows.

Here is the set of tags we'll make:

We'll be making a gift bow angel:

Materials used:

• card - whisper white, gold glimmer, blush blossom
• other - various circle punches, itty bitty punch, rhinestone, Big Shot, gift bow die, vintage wallpaper E/F, sponge dauber, word window punch, white taffeta ribbon, black marker, white bakers twine

We will also look at a variety of bows for gift giving:

And something else you can make with the gift bow die - though we won't make one in class - is this cheerful little chap:

Materials used:

• card - very vanilla, naturals ivory, basic black, pumpkin pie
• punches - 2 1/2" circle, 1 3/4" circle, owl
• other - gift bow die, Big Shot, cherry cobbler stitched edge grosgrain ribbon, frosted finishes embellishment, white gel pen, old olive grosgrain ribbon, sticky strip
• non SU - hot glue gun, twigs

I found this on Pinterest but unfortunately the instructional video for making it was full of errors and wrong instructions, so my first one ended up in the bin and I had to muddle through to work things out myself - not my strongest suit! However, it all came right in the end - well, kinda alright. He's a bit rough and ready, but not to worry!

Thanks for calling in today. Hopefully I'll be back soon with some Christmas craft for home. We're having a Steampunk theme this year, so that is going to be a challenge!

Cheers
Kez

Creative Crew November Challenges - Holiday Focus

For our holiday focus this month it's National Cake Day and we were given some photos to use as inspiration for our projects. I picked the one shown below because you know how much I love black and white/black and vanilla!

This made me think of weddings obviously, but also the scene from My Fair Lady when they are at the races and all the ladies are wearing black and white outfits and ginormous hats - here's some pics:

So I decided to make a hat box using black and vanilla papers, ribbons and embellishments. I kept it simple and elegant - here's how it turned out:

The Modern Medley papers are black and white, so I sponged them with very vanilla ink so that they matched the striped paper. I loved using the wide striped ribbon on the lid as it looks so much like the ribbon on Eliza's dress (above)!

Materials used:

• stamps - None
• card - basic black, Modern Medley dsp, (retired) Halloween dsp
• other - very vanilla ink, sponge, gift bow die, very vintage designer buttons, (retired) striped grosgrain ribbon, sticky strip, (retired) black satin ribbon
• non SU - hot glue gun, Mod Podge, paint brush, papier mache hat box from Spotlight

I had so much fun making this project and YOU can have just as much fun joining in the challenge and creating something for National Cake Day too! Why not pop over to the challenge gallery at Splitcoast and see what everyone else has made to inspire you? 

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

Crafty Mum Rides Again

You may remember a while back I was making all kinds of gift bows (this post here). When she saw them, DD15 asked if I could make one from ribbon or fabric to put on a headband. Out of polka dot something, naturally (you know my girls' obsession with polka dots by now!).

Anyways, I happened to have some red polka dot felt on hand so I gave it a try and here is the result:

Materials used:

• gift bow die, Tombow glue
• non SU - hairband, hot glue gun

I can see I may have opened a Pandora's box with this one - now I'm requested to make a green one too. And I'm sure that won't be the end of it! lol

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez

PUH-LEASE!!!

DD15 had a birthday party to attend today and she was rather disappointed that the gift she had bought came in a plain white bag. Needed to buy something nicer, she said.

PUH-LEASE!

Crafty mum can fix that, says I! (or words to that effect)

As the birthday girl apparently likes pastels and not bolds or brights (thank goodness for some sanity in the world), I got out some totally gorgeous paper from Graphic 45 and along with my trusty stamps, punches and dies from SU, gave that nasty ol' white bag a makeover!

Take a lookie:

Much prettier! I could have done more but as this operation took place at 6.00 am, I was pleased with what I got accomplished! lol

Materials used:

• stamps - Happiest Birthday Greetings (retired)
• card - very vanilla
• other - gift bow tie, two tags die, scallop circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, 1" circle punch, marina mist ribbon, calypso coral bakers twine, dimensionals, sticky strip
• non SU - Secret Garden dsp by Graphic 45

Yay! Crafty mum saves the day!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Creative Crew September Challenges

It's time for my very first challenges as a member of the SU Creative Crew over at Splitcoaststampers. I have had TONS of fun creating my projects and truly hope many of you will find some inspiration to take part in a challenge or two (or four!) yourselves.

September is Self Improvement Month

"The best thing you can do is get good at being you." - Dennis the Menace

"My past has not defined me, destroyed me, deterred me, or defeated me; it has only strengthened me." - Steve Maraboli

CCREW0913DF - DSP/Color Focus: Our journey of self improvement begins with Eastern Elegance designer papers or the colors crushed curry, coastal cabana, smoky slate and whisper white. Make a project using these colors for someone you admire. Tell us why this person is significant to you.

I wanted to incorporate as many of the colours as I could but didn't want to overwhelm my project with too many busy patterns. The ideal answer was a small amount of each! So out came my mosaic ensemble and here is the result:

Materials used:

• stamps - Really Good Greetings (MDS)
• card - whisper white, smoky slate, Eastern Elegance dsp (MDS)
• other - mosaic embossing folder, Big Shot, mosaic punch, dimensionals, rhinestones

This was made with both of my girls in mind. I admire them both so much for working so diligently towards their dreams and goals in life.

CCREW0913CF - Catalog Focus: use any of the stampsets on pages 111-119 in the annual catalog. Make a project in a new way to you by using a technique you've never tried or a special fold never used by you before. Continue to use at least two of the colors from the color focus, crushed curry, coastal cabana, smoky slate or whisper white. 

This one was a real challenge and my first three or so attempts at a new technique ended up in the bin! So I changed focus and tried a different tack and was finally happy with the result. The technique new to me is collage stamping; my stamp set from p111-119 is My Friend; and I've used all four of the challenge colours. My sentiment stamp was picked to carry on the Self Improvement theme - to live optimistically and not focussing on the dark parts of life. Here's my project:

Materials used:

• stamps - My Friend, Collage Curios, Lovely Little Labels, Pursuit of Happiness, Medallion, En Francais
• card - coastal cabana, whisper white, basic black
• other - dimensionals, cloudy day embossing folder, Big Shot, 3/4" circle punch, 1" circle punch, 1 1/4" scallop circle punch, clear embossing powder, heat tool

You can check the Splitcoaststampers Resources forum for ideas for new techniques at this link: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/C88/

CCREW0913HF - Holiday Focus: 911 Remembrance. It's not a holiday, but it's a day that has been imprinted on our minds. Make a project with the Big Shot that allows you to remember a day from your past. If you wish to share the significance of this day, we'd love to read about it.

Well, this one posed so many possibilities - there's no shortage of significant days to remember. Then I read Steve Maraboli's quote (above) again and knew immediately that my project would be about DD15, who was diagnosed with Type 1 (insulin dependent) diabetes 7 1/2 years ago.  She most certainly lives up to that quote, refusing to let the disease define her or rule her life - she is determined to live life on her terms and her diabetes has to fit in with that, not the other way around. 

If you've been a regular reader over the years you may remember a jelly bean card I made for DD a while back (see here). Jelly beans are what she takes when she is having a hypo (hypoglycaemia) to bring her blood glucose levels back up to a safe number. So for this project I used my Big Shot to make her a little purse full of jelly beans!

I used clear window sheet so the lovely colours of the jelly beans would show through and embossed it with the fancy fan E/F for a bit of texture. The "jelly bean " brad at the front features tiny love hearts to show my love and support for her every step of the way.

Materials used:

• stamps - none
• card - window sheet
• other - petite purse die, Big Shot, jelly bean brads (retired), subtles brads (retired), fancy fan embossing folder, sticky strip

CCREW0913SF - Scrapbook and More Focus: Make a gift for a good neighbor as you celebrate National Good Neighbor Day (September 28th).

Although we don't have NGND here in Australia, I love the idea of it. We have a young neighbour who feeds our cats for us while we are away and so this was the perfect opportunity to make an extra special thank you for her. My project isn't so much the gift as the gift wrapping - hope that meets the challenge criteria!

This bag is made from one piece of 12"x12" designer paper plus a couple of pieces of cardstock. Very simple and quick. The instructions were from a U Stamp with Dawn and Friends project (Year End Blow Out 2010) and were designed by Danielle Daws.

Materials used:

• stamps - Chalk Talk
• card - pumpkin pie, very vanilla, basic black, Modern Medley dsp, Polka Dot  Parade dsp
• other - chalk talk framelits, Big Shot, gift bow die, pumpkin pie and basic black 1/8" taffeta ribbon, 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, crop-o-dile, sticky strip, bone folder, corner rounder punch, dimensionals
• non SU - black button

If you do make a project for any of the challenges, use the Blue codes when you post your project on your blog or on SCS.

Phew! That was a post and a half, wasn't it?! Thanks for sticking with me to the end and do please visit SCS and take a look at the other projects made by my fellow design team members for your inspiration (click HERE). And check back there regularly during September to see what everyone who is taking part in the challenges comes up with! 

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

A Bevy of Bows

One of the things I just could not resist putting on my Holiday catalogue pre-order was the Gift Bow Bigz die. And I'm so glad I did, because I just cannot stop making these things! They are so quick and easy and so darned CUTE that I keep looking for more papers to make another!

Here's some samples of what I've made so far - firstly some Christmas bows:

The two on the bottom row are made from new Christmas papers coming up in the Holiday catalogue and the island indigo one on the right also has a new embellishment in the centre.

Then some cute polka dots, floral and sweet baby bows:

And a couple of elegant bows using retired papers - Halloween papers that to me look like Burberry and the gorgeous Mocha Morning papers:

So of course now I am wanting there to be birthdays, weddings, births, Christmas, anniversaries and more so I can make a whole new bevy of matching bows! Lol.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez