Happy Anniversary Bunting

Today is my 22nd wedding anniversary ... goodness me, where on earth did all those years go? Oh yeah ... kids, mortgages, jobs, emigrating ... LOL!

I thought it was high time for an owl card and I also wanted to try out my new Petite Pennants punch and make some bunting. Love that pun! So I whipped out some brightly coloured papers (retired ones, haven't got the new ones yet but DH does love bright colours) and here's my "happy anniversary, Bunting" card:

Materials used:

• stamps - Family Phrases
• punches - petite pennants, owl, word window, modern label
• card - pacific point, real red, wild wasabi, whisper white, basic black, celebrations dsp
• other - dimensionals, black rhinestones, little leaves die, Big Shot, string

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez

Happy New SU Year!

Well, we've finally reached that magical time of year when a brand spanking new Idea Book and Catalogue goes live - great excitement! I placed my order first thing yesterday morning and by the end of the day it had SHIPPED, so SU are doing a fantastic job to get our new goodies out to us asap!

Once I get a chance to play with all the new deliciousness I'll post some projects, but meanwhile here are some links to the new IBandC for you so you can browse to your heart's content. If you need a real live one in your hot little hands and don't have a demonstrator already, just give me a holler (see contact me over on the sidebar) and I'll get one to you.

To view the catalogue on line, click here.

To download the catalogue as a pdf file, click here.

Back soon with goodies!

Cheers
Kez

Dear Friend

It was my good mate Rob's birthday recently and although I rang her on the day, I haven't had the chance to give her her birthday card until today. I've used a combination of things I know she loves - black, vanilla, cherry cobbler and my Fabulous Florets stamp set.

Here's the front:

And on the inside I have carried through the shape and the flower:

Materials used:

• stamps - Occasional Greetings, Fabulous Florets, Perfect Punches, Vintage Labels 18 (Waltzingmouse Stamps)
• card - cherry cobbler, basic black, very vanilla, old olive, Love Letters DSP, Regals patterns stack
• other - Versamark, cherry cobbler embossing powder, dimensionals, Big Shot, basic black satin ribbon

Back in a day or two with the gorgeous projects from our play day! Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Floral Elegance

Isn't it typical? I went to take photos for today's post earlier on while there was plenty of natural light and discovered my camera battery was dead. Now that the battery is charged, of course it is dark and dreary, cold and raining. Hmmmph!

Anywho, today's card is one I don't think I'll ever be able to give away because I love it so much! It's an elegant little number in black and vanilla and it goes something like this:

In the background is a new stamp from the 2011-2012 catalogue called Parlour Prints. I have stamped it with very vanilla craft ink and clear embossed it for a subtle but gorgeous background to my dramatic flower panel. The flower and stem are also stamped with (black) craft ink and clear embossed and I coloured the flower with my aquapainter and vanilla ink to give it a bit more richness.

The very vanilla cardstock isn't quite strong enough to hold all these layers, so I attached my vanilla to a basic black base but covered the front completely - so the card appears to be vanilla!

Here's a close up so you can see Parlour Prints a bit better:

GORJAMILICIOUS!!! I'll be sharing this little beauty with some stamping buddies when we have our play day next week and I know Rob will be drooling until then! LOL

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez

You Rock!

DD13 has a birthday party to attend at the weekend, so naturally there was a need for a card. I am always a little unsure about what appeals to teenagers these days, but luckily I had a few parameters to work with:

• the card must be funky
• I had to use the Just Jawing set (retired)
• the party theme is black and white
• the birthday girl's favourite colour is purple

I must say I had a LOT of fun playing and this is what I came up with:

I cut out the skull then sprayed it with champagne shimmer mist. The eyes had heat and stick powder and dazzling diamonds applied and I put some rhinestones on the crown - so there's no shortage of bling! Here's a close up of the sparkle:

The purple is my very last A4 piece of retired colour Orchid Opulence - not a colour I particularly liked, I have to admit, but here with black and white it looks rather good, and it matched the colour of the rhinestones perfectly.

DD loves it, so hopefully the birthday girl will too!

Materials used:

• stamps - Just Jawing, Artistic Etchings, Perfect Punches
• card - orchid opulence, basic black, whisper white
• other - champagne shimmer paint, dimensionals, dazzling diamonds, square punch, vintage wallpaper embossing folder, Big Shot, rhinestones (non SU)

Thanks for stopping by. Have a blingalicious day!

Cheers
Kez

Oh George!

Now that George has gotten your attention! LOL! I was honoured this week to receive the following blog award from my sweet friend Lynda over at 1..2..3...Easy PC.

Thanks so much Lynda! As usual, I have to share 5 things about myself you may not know, so I decided to have a bit of fun with it!

1. my top 5 film hunks (not necessarily in order) are George Clooney, Hugh Jackman, Gerard Butler, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Sean Connery
2. favourite romantic comedy movies: The Holiday (Jude Law at his best!), The Accidental Husband (hilarious!), Kate & Leopold (no-one could resist Hugh Jackman on a white horse!), Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day (brilliant and sweet!) Out of Sight or One Fine Day (George is excellent in both!)
3. Book I have read the most number of times - The Prodigal Daughter by Jeffrey Archer
4. things I will definitely never master in this lifetime: skiing, ice skating, chess
5. what career I would have chosen if I'd had any talent at all: famous movie actress

Now I have to pass this award on to 5 people whom I consider to have style. Difficult to pick only 5, but here goes:

• Carla Bazhenow 
• Paula Dobson
• Angie Brown
• Jodene Tripp
• Sandra Azzopardi

All of them talented ladies and sweet people too, you would enjoy visiting their blogs.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Home On The Range

High on my "To Do" list this week was to create a third card for my Brayering 201 class coming up soon and I decided to play with new in colours Pool Party and Island Indigo.

I had originally intended to add some leaves in the foreground, but once I had done my masking for the mountains, I changed my mind. The reason for that is when I looked at it, it reminded me of the Blue Mountains on a hazy day and how they got their name. So I simplified by just adding some birds (from the Sail Away stamp) and here you have my home!

I just ADORE these two new colours and can see me getting a LOT of use out of them over the next two years!

Materials used:

• stamps - Sail Away
• card - whisper white, pool party, island indigo
• inks - pool party, island indigo
• other - brayer, dimensionals, scrap paper, sponge dauber, black marker

Thanks for stopping in.

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

Going, Going, Gone

I'm a little behind in my posting, so today's cards use stamps from the now ended Autumn/Winter mini. Both these masculine stamps are fabulous and so versatile.

Firstly I cased my own card which was a case of someone else's card! Hmm, if you managed to follow that logic, here's Sail Away again:

Materials used:

• stamps - Sail Away, The Open Sea
• card - cherry cobbler, very vanilla, crumb cake, night of navy, watercolour
• other - night of navy striped grosgrain, dimensionals, nestabilities die, aquapainter

That gorgeous ribbon is on the retirement list, so I'll be stocking up on that one!

Next a simple card with plenty of texture and a bit of "grunge". I also put some crystal effects over the coloured portions of the bike to give it that "shiny motorcycle" buzz, lol!

Materials used:

• stamps - Motorcycle, Sanded 
• card - not quite navy, very vanilla, crumb cake, soft suede
• other - crystal effects, square lattice embossing folder, dimensionals

I think the sanded background stamp might be on the retirement list too, so that's another favourite going. Ho hum.

And then, as it's DH's birthday on Friday, I made another Sail Away for him. As you know, he likes bold colours, so I've used my fav red, white and blue nautical theme! Layout inspired by a card by Lesley Annabel.

Materials used:

• stamps - Sail Away, Best Dad Ever, French Foliage, The Open Sea
• card - cherry cobbler, whisper white, not quite navy
• other - white embossing powder and heat tool, cherry cobbler bakers twine, non SU charm, dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

A Sad Farewell

I know it's always exciting to get a new catalogue and lots of new goodies to play with, but of course it's also tinged with a little sadness when some favourite sets have to be farewelled.

Here are a few cards made with stamps that are retiring:

A Sense of time

Party Hearty

Bella Toile

On A Pedestal

A Good Egg

Tart & Tangy

If you haven't already checked out the Retirement List (or Last Chance List), click on the name for the link.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kez

Merry And Bright

Here's the Christmas cards we'll be making at this month's stamp-a-stack classes.

Plenty of subtle glitter on the first one as I mixed dazzling diamonds with white embossing powder. We stamp the trees with Versamark ink, add my concoction and voila! wintery white trees with sparkle.

Materials used:

• stamps - SU Lovely as a Tree, Verve sentiment
• card - night of navy, whisper white, Sahara sand
• other - dazzling diamonds, sponge dauber, dimensionals

The second card includes some watercolouring - you know how much I love it! - together with a few of my favourite colours. The embossing on the background ties in with the holly and swirls on the main panel and also stops the vanilla from being too plain.

Materials used:

• stamps - Bells and Boughs, Elements of Style
• card - crumb cake, very vanilla, cherry cobbler, watercolour paper
• inks and markers - daffodil delight, more mustard, marina mist, always artichoke, cherry cobbler, crumb cake
• other - dimensionals, aquapainter, Cuttlebug embossing folder

Are you starting to feel all Christmassy? 

Cheers

Kez

I Know You Don't Want To Hear This, But ...

...... Christmas is coming!

Oh, yeah, you know it - once we hit July, it's a downhill run from there! LOL! And as papercrafters we know what that means ... start your Christmas cards!

This month we started our Christmas stamp-a-stack classes and here are the two cards we made:

I loved using non-traditional colours for this case from my upline Marelle.

Materials used:

• stamps - Dasher, Four the Holidays
• card - crumb cake, whisper white, perfect plum, concord crush
• other - Petals A Plenty embossing folder, scallop trim border punch, white taffeta ribbon, white gel pen, dimensionals

A simple design for this one so there was time to do the colouring in. Love this cute little image!

Materials used:

• stamps - Greeting Card Kids
• card - cherry cobbler, very vanilla, watercolour
• other - Kaiser designer paper, nestabilities die, dimensionals

And not for class but just for my own collection, I also played around with the ever popular Lovely as a Tree for this card:

Materials used:

• stamps - Lovely as a Tree, Four the Holidays
• card - always artichoke, creamy caramel, very vanilla
• other - Kaiser designer paper, nestabilities die, dimensionals, square punch

It's almost time for August's class, so I'll be back soon with more Christmas cards. You better get started on yours!

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers
Kez

NSU - Cuteness Factor

I've got some birthday cards for you today and the first two feature stamps from Lili of the Valley's newest ranges.

Pastel shades for this pretty card with a ribbon and button feature:

Materials used:

• stamps - LOTV, SU Think Happy Thoughts
• card - certainly celery, pretty in pink, whisper white, watercolour, dotted paper from stash
• punches - 35 mm circle, 38 mm circle (non SU), scallop circle
• other - so saffron ribbon, pink buttons (non SU)

For my wizard card I made my own background using stamps and gold embossing, then added some embedded embossing on the mustard panel. The sentiment was done on the computer. This one is particularly topical with the release of the last Harry Potter movie!

Materials used:

• stamps - LOTV, SU Starring You
• card - cherry cobbler, more mustard, night of navy, watercolour, very vanilla
• punches - small star
• other - nestabilities die, square lattice embossing folder, gold embossing powder, heat tool

Lastly I couldn't have a cute colouring in session without a Magnolia card too, now could I? Tilda is blowing some birthday wishes in this pretty floral card.

Materials used:

• stamps - Magnolia, SU Sincere Salutations
• card - bravo burgundy, very vanilla, always artichoke, pink pirouette patterned paper, Kaiser English roses paper, watercolour
• other - nestabilities die, Martha Stewart doily lace punch, very vanilla satin ribbon

Hope you get some time to do some colouring in today. Thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez

Thinking of You

This card was loads of fun to make, incorporating some of my favourite techniques - watercolouring, sponging and distressing.

The sentiment was stamped twice to make it a bit darker and the bird and two bullrushes were stamped on watercolour paper, cut out and stuck on over the very vanilla image for dimension. I also "shabbied" the lace by sponging over patches of it.

Materials used:

• stamps - Every Moment, French Foliage, Silhouette Sentiments
• card - crumb cake, very vanilla, marina mist, watercolour paper, Elegant Soiree DSP
• inks & markers - soft suede, pear pizzazz, crumb cake, Baja breeze, marina mist, so saffron, more mustard
• other - lace, dimensionals, nestabilities die, aquapainter

Hope you get the chance to play with some of your favs today! Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Wildflowers at Sunset

Well, after a wonderfully fun Brayering 101 with my lovely Sunday ladies, they are keen to move on to the next step and try Brayering 201. So when I got home from work yesterday I just had to sit and play with my brayer. My first few attempts ended up in the bin but I finally went with the one below, even though my brayering isn't quite as even as I would like it.

Materials used:

• stamps - Silhouette Sentiments (level 1 hostess)
• card - whisper white, basic black, rich razzleberry
• inks - regal rose, melon mambo, rich razzleberry, black StazOn
• other - brayer, circle punch, sponge

However! Note to self: don't use cheap post it notes for masking! They don't punch very well (even using two sheets instead of just one) and they also leak the ink in a little. From now on I'll have to stick to the original, more expensive post its!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez