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

I Couldn't Believe My Eyes ... er, Nose

I was in my favourite LSS yesterday, just browsing (as you do) when something caught my eye. When I took a closer look, I could NOT believe it and had to immediately put the product in my basket. Then I couldn't wait to get out to the car and check it out ... and to get home to make a card with it.

What caused this fever of excitement, you may ask? (And probably are, LOL!)

Well, I found some Scratch and Sniff stickers that SMELL LIKE CHOCOLATE!!!! Yes, you read that right, but I'll repeat it just so's you know you are not imagining it - they really and truly actually do SMELL LIKE CHOCOLATE.

Seriously, it would have been a crime against confectionery if I had not bought those stickers! And when I took them out of the pack and took a sniff ... well! Mmmmmm, mmmmmm, mmmm, mmmmmm, mmmmmmmmmmmm! "And that's all I have to say about that", as Forest Gump would say.

They did have other flavours - er, smells - pizza, ice cream, popcorn and peanut butter - but I didn't pay those ones too much never mind, as I was only concerned with the CHOCOLATE SMELLING ones! Naturally, the Eat Chocolate set came immediately to mind (I could not in all conscience call myself a compulsive obsessive paper crafter if it did not) and I rushed right home to make a card. And another.

Wanna see?

Mmmm, chocolate (drool, drool)! The only problem with these delectable goodies is that I now have the dilemma of

• something that LOOKS like chocolate, and
• SMELLS like chocolate, but
• is NOT chocolate and therefore cannot be sacrificed on the altar of my chocolate craving! 

The solution? Well, it's obvious really. I must give these to a friend who loves chocolate as much as me, so that she too will be driven crazy by the "you can smell me but can't eat me" chocolateyness! After all, what are friends for?!!!

Cheers

Kez

Seasons Herald The Passing Of Time

Yesterday I got to thinking about how the seasons and the passage of time are intertwined and I found a great quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes that refers to this:


The foliage has been losing its freshness through the month of August, and here and there a yellow leaf shows itself like the first gray hair amidst the locks of a beauty who has seen one season too many.  


So I decided to make a card along this theme and picked the stamp sets French Foliage and A Sense of Time, which were just perfect for what I had in mind. Here's the card front:

And on the inside:

What do you think?

Materials used:

• stamps - French Foliage, Sense of Time
• card - very vanilla, early espresso, more mustard, cherry cobbler
• inks - early espresso, more mustard, cherry cobbler, tangerine tango, cajun craze
• other - sponge daubers, dimensionals

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

Petite Chic

Sorry to be MIA for so long - had to make a quick road trip down to Melbourne to rescue my two DDs stuck because of the ash cloud!

Anywho, we're making hexagon boxes in class this week using the mini milk carton die (as per my tutorial here) so I thought I'd do my own version of Rob's Artistic Etchings one from Unconvention (see it here).

As I love the look of black and cream I've used those, with a touch of grey and yellow thrown in. Here's how it turned out:

Oo-la-la! DD19 loves it, so hope my ladies will too.

Thanks for calling in.

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

Asian Inspired and My First Tutorial

Howdy! I have had a few requests for a "how to" on the mini milk carton box with the legs, so settle down for a long post and here goes!

• cut two mini milk cartons using your die and Big Shot
• cut off one complete section from each as shown below

• the centre panel has different scoring to the others (to make the spout part) but we need it to be the same, so firstly score from where the point meets the top, down to the next score line as seen below

• now score from here to either corner so you have a triangular scored shape like the others

• fold all your score lines and use your bone folder to get nice sharp creases
• using strong adhesive on the end tabs, attach the two boxes together

• to help keep your hexagon the right shape, join the bottom pieces as follows: take two opposite pieces and join them so they match perfectly and make a straight line

•  do this with the other two sets of opposite pieces as well

• now cut another piece of cardstock 25.6 cm wide and height whatever you want - I used 9.5 cm for this sample
• score this piece every 4.1 cm, so at 4.1, 8.2, 12.3, 16.4, 20.5 and 24.6 - you will then have a 1 cm piece for joining
• using the 32 mm (1 1/4 inch) circle punch, punch the bottom of each section as shown below. I punched a piece of scrap paper first, folded it in half, then drew around it to give me a guide to where to punch my first one (see below), then traced around the one I had punched as a guide for the others

• don't forget to give the end piece a bit of shape too

• now decide how high up the carton you want to attach your "legs" piece. Don't put it right up to the fold as this will show too much - put it a bit below so you can hide it with your decorative panels of DSP or whatever

• put plenty of strong adhesive on the inside part - remember not to put the adhesive so far down that it goes beyond the base of your box (I drew a line at 4.5 cm so I would know where to stop!)

•  begin attaching at the tab part and move around the box, adhering firmly

• use your crop-o-dile to punch holes in the folded top sections, then thread ribbon through to tie

• now decorate the side panels as you like - either one piece of DSP all the way around, or separate panels as per the examples below

Phew! I hope I haven't forgotten anything - have proofread this a million times! 

Hope you have tons of fun making your own boxes. Many thanks to my mate Robbity for showing me how to make them in the first place!

Cheers
Kez

Edited to Add: I have since discovered that my friend got the idea for this box from two projects posted on www.creativityinprogress.com Many apologies to Sunghee for not giving her credit originally.

Coming Soon ...

.... at a station near you! he he!

I have had more than a few hints and requests for how to do the legs on the mini milk carton gift box (see last post), so I am preparing a tutorial for it. Give me a day or two to get it done in between work and life and I should have it up here for you by the end of the week.

Stay tuned!

Gift Boxes

I've had fun making more hexagon boxes from the mini milk carton die - just love these, they are so easy and so effective.

For the first one I wanted to go all girly and floral for some reason! I used two sets that I got from overseas and am hoping they make it into our new catalogue - Baby Blossoms and Four Frames. My colours are certainly celery, wild wasabi, pretty in pink and regal rose.

My second has the added "legs" and a much bolder colour combination with my favourite "kerry cobbler", marina mist and a touch of gold. These papers are called Paisley Petals - another "foreigner" I am hoping will appear on our shores come September.

Think we might just have to have a class on these soon!

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers
Kez

Punch Buggy Yellow

Do your kids/grandkids love to play the Yellow Car and Punch Buggie games? My girls do and we often have a hilarious journey trying to beat each other to find both and call "punch buggy yellow"! Being in the driver's seat has its advantages and disadvantages, mind you! But we can't play Yellow car when we are in Melbourne with DD19 as she lives very close to the CBD and all the taxis are yellow! LOL

So having seen a gorgeous punch art VW beetle some time ago, I finally got around to making a punch buggy yellow card - literally! Here tis:

I love it! Takes me back aeons ago to my own childhood when we had a white VW beetle - named Herbie of course! (For those of you ancient enough to remember the original Love Bug movies!)

Thanks for dropping in.

Cheers
Kez

Edited to add Punches used:

• Wide oval - hood & car top

• Large oval - windshield, hood & side fenders

• Word Window - bumper

• Modern Label - tires

• 1/2" circle - black headlights

• new punch pack 3/8" circle - gray headlights

• Horizontal slot punch - rear view mirror, bumper add-ons & hood handle

You're In My Thoughts

Sadly, my SIL's dear wee dog Max had to be put out of his pain yesterday. I know she will miss him terribly and I made a card to tell her we are thinking of her and sharing her loss as she mourns Maxie - such a sweet wee man.

I went with classic and simple, which she likes.

I did three layers on the rose but haven't used dimensionals in between layers, just adhered the centres so it has a little depth.

After I'd made my card I found that Just Add Ink's challenge this week is black and white, so I'm entering it in that.

Thanks for calling in.

Kez

Craving Craft

This past week was one of those weeks when everything conspired against stamping! I had extra hours at work, DD13 was sick, then I had a fall at work and had to rest up for a couple of days. But this morning I finally made it into my new craft room (not completely moved in yet, due to the above!) to make a card.

This one is for DD13, who loves to design her own fashions and make clothes - which is primarily the reason why I bought this suite of stamps and papers. I've used one of the great sentiments from Word Play and my colours are tangerine tango, cherry cobbler, very vanilla, crumb cake and marina mist.

It's a dull, overcast day here so forgive the poor lighting in the photo. Click on it for a better look!

Hopefully I'll get time over the long weekend for some more playing!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez

Great Excitement

Well, we've got great excitement happening in our house at the moment for two reasons:

1. DD is excited because today is her birthday and she is now DD13! Yes, my baby is officially a teenager - which is exciting and sad for me at the same time. But I am so proud of the young lady she is becoming and love spending time with her - she seems to have inherited a rather warped sense of humour from somewhere (can't imagine where/who!!!! :P) and we have tons of laughs together. 
2. I am excited because I have a new craft room! Up until now I was squished on a small desk in a corner of my bedroom and stuff has been overflowing every which way I look (new stamps, papers etc seem to magically appear!), so I have now moved in to a craft room! After a very fun trip to IKEA (gotta love it!) and hours spent with my wonderful SIL helping assemble bookcases, I have started moving "schtuff" in! Once I am more settled in there I will get some photos up here for you to see my new slice of heaven!

So, naturally, these two events converged in that I needed to "christen" my new craft room by making a card - and had need of a card for DD's birthday! What could be more perfect? 

I found some great wrapping paper that has brightly coloured balloons all over it and also some fab take out boxes (for goodie bags) also covered in bright balloons ... so naturally I have used those gorgeous balloons from Crazy for Cupcakes (one of those sets that magically appeared, LOL!) and some bright, cheerful colours. Here tis:

Unfortunately the night I had the crystal effects drying was a cold one ... so cold that it has cracked the CE!!! Luckily DD understood. The sentiment stamp from PTI expressed my feelings perfectly ...

Thanks for dropping in.

Cheers
Kez

Unconvention 4 - Other Projects

Finally got my photos sorted and can show you the totally GORGEOUS project that Rob had for us to do at our Unconvention.

We were making a lovely 6-sided box using the mini milk carton die and Rob had tons of beautiful samples for us to see the different ways you can do them. Here are some photos of her samples:

They were all stunning but I think everyone's favourite was the Artistic Etchings one shown above. Just gorgeous. Now I need to find time to case it!

Here's the one we all made:

The others coloured flowers from the Pretties Kit with markers, but I used DSP and the Birds and Blossoms die for mine. The colours are "kerry cobbler" and daffodil delight - don't they look stunning together?

Well, back with photos of other swaps when I get organised. Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez