Birthday KISS

Today I'm keeping it simple with another bright and cheerful card for you. I didn't need much in the way of embellishments when the background papers and die-cut balloons do all the work.

Materials used:

• stamps - Tiny Words Birthday (SSS)
• card - whisper white, melon mambo, daffodil delight, Bermuda bay, basic black, Sugar Shoppe paper (Doodlebug)
• other - balloon dies, Big Shot, stitched rectangle die, Dimensionals, mounting strip, craft foam, white gel pen, white embossing powder, heat tool

I guess with balloons being so environmentally unfriendly, we won't use them as much for celebrations, but at least these ones pose no threat to sea life or the supply of helium!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Inky Hello

While the recent rains (well, thunderstorms) are very, very, very welcome, unfortunately the low cloud cover traps the heat and brings with it the humidity, and that I loathe and detest with every fibre of my being! Who enjoys being sticky and sweaty when the sun isn't even out? Not me, nor anyone I know, lol.

So to cheer myself up I've made another inky background card, this time using my favourite distress oxides, which you know I'm a complete sucker for...

Materials used:

• stamps - All About You (MFT)
• card - whisper white, basic black
• distress oxide inks - mustard seed, picked raspberry, wilted violet
• other - Hello die, stitched rectangle die, Big Shot, iridescent sequin assortment, mini glue dots, blending brushes, distress glaze, spritzer tool, water spritzer, white distress spray stain, white embossing powder, heat tool, glue, craft foam, melon mambo and highland heather markers

Once my feature panel was to my liking I blended some distress glaze over it - this helps deepen the colours so they don't fade, plus has the advantage of 'locking' them in so they're no longer affected by water etc. It's easily applied - just put a tiny smidge on your finger and rub it in. It looks shiny at first but dries to a matte finish. 

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kez

Be Happy

A week or so back I had a play with Brushos again and made up a partial card - all it needed was a focal feature. I finally found that in a cute die I borrowed from my BFF and now my card is complete.

Okay, admit it, who's singing along with Bobby McFerrin in their head? I'm playing it now as I type, bopping my head away, lol.

Materials used:

• card - blackberry bliss, watercolour, basic black
• other - water spritzer, Brushos, heat tool, DWBH die, Big Shot, sequins, mini glue dots, craft foam, double sided adhesive paper, stitched rectangle die

Have a great day and thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez

Happy Australia Day

If you stretch your mind back twelve months you may remember my last Australia Day card, which featured the Aussie flag and a cute little gnome. A gnome convention is held nearby every year and as luck - and crafty fate - would have it, just yesterday I borrowed from my bestie a number of dies including ones for constructing a gnome house! I thought it was perfect for my Aussie Day card this year. Here tis:

I sponged the clouds on to white then ran that piece through the printer to get the sentiment (as I don't have a stamp that says this). Isn't the wee house adorable? There are a number of other dies in the set too but I decided to stop here! I would have added in a gnome but the proportions don't match the house AT ALL and I'm too anal to do it, lol.

Materials used:

• card - whisper white, real red, night of navy, granny apple green, very vanilla
• other - mini cloud stencil (MFT), blending brushes, gnome house dies, Big Shot, grass hill die, mounting tape, craft foam, tweezers, glue

If you're in Aussie, throw another prawn on the barbie for me and save me a slice of pav!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez

Feeling a Terrible Draught - CAS on Friday Challenge

Hi everyone, it's time for another CAS on Friday challenge! I do hope you'll be inspired to join us this week.

Today's challenge is #172 and the theme is GET WELL.

Those of you who are regular visitors will know how fond I am of puns and word play, so you'll understand how I simply could not resist this cute and funny image from Art Impression's Get Well set.

Is that adorable or what? There are more great images and sentiments in this set that I know I'll be using for future cards - and, in fact, one of my fellow DT members has used one for her sample!

Materials used:

• stamps - Get Well (AI)
• card - whisper white, seafood spray
• other - Stampin' Blends (seaside spray, ivory, mint macaron, pink pirouette, smoky slate), craft foam, Dimensionals, Stamparatus, stitched rectangle die, Big Shot, Sahara sand marker, shaping mat and tool, internet image, computer and printer, mini library clip

Please pop on over to the CAS on Friday blog to see what my fellow design team members have created for you and don't forget to leave us all some comment love! 

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kez

Breathtaking

I've been playing with the Breathtaking Bouquet background stamp again and this time my card was so much quicker to make than the watercoloured one I last showed you. In fact, it's such an easy card that it takes no more than 5 minutes to construct.

See? It was only a matter of stamping, embossing, stamping and embossing again - and voila! all done!

Materials used:

• stamps - Breathtaking Bouquet (SU), Tiny Words Birthday (SSS)
• card - basic black, gold foil
• other - gold embossing powder, heat tool, Stamparatus, black Dimensionals both regular and mini, embossing buddy

I kept my sentiment small again though, just like last time, because really you want that glorious floral image to take centre stage, don't you? I know I do.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kez

Oops I Did It Again

Some new goodies arrived in the mail yesterday which I had no trouble sitting down to play with almost immediately *wink*. Once I'd trialled a couple, I thought 'hey, this would look good in the corner for that one layer, off-centre challenge' ... and so here is entry #2 for the Simply Less is More challenge that I mentioned in my last post.

Materials used:

• stamps - You Matter (SSS)
• card - whisper white (SU)
• other - Altenew layering stencils dahlia, blending brushes, Stamparatus, clear embossing powder, heat tool, epoxy dots

I'm looking forward to trying these stencils out with other colours too.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kez

Brighter Days

Over at Simply Less is More they have an interesting challenge at the moment and I couldn't resist playing along.

It's like two challenges in one!

Here's my card:

I stamped the girl first and coloured her, then covered her with a mask and sponged the background. The raindrops and sentiment were added after that. I just had to make the umbrella yellow as DD21 has one and it makes me think of her.

Materials used:

• stamps - Beautiful You, Under My Umbrella
• card - whisper white
• other - Stamparatus, blending brush, sticky note, Stampin' Blends, basic grey marker

Why not pop over to the SLIM blog and check out the other entries - or better yet, enter the challenge yourself.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Labour of Love

You all know how much I love watercoloring so the fact I tackled the new Breathtaking Bouquet background stamp will come as no surprise. I used the method where I 'painted' an area with clear water first, then touched the ink to that and let it flow around, helping as needed for it to reach everywhere. Needless to say, this took rather a long time - it's a big stamp! I'd leave an area to dry and head off to do something else, then come back and colour some more. It's so relaxing and I was in no rush. The difficult part was deciding which bits would get cut off when I pared it down to fit on my card front!

Materials used:

• stamps - Breathtaking Bouquet, Itty Bitty Greetings
• card - watercolour, highland heather, gorgeous grape
• other - aqua painter, inks, stitched rectangle die, Big Shot, craft foam, white embossing powder, heat tool, embossing buddy, Stamparatus, mounting strips

The sentiment needed to be small so as not to detract from the wow power of the flowers and I used purple to make a triangle of colour, which balanced the card out nicely. I must say I'm loving those colours; not sure I want to send this off to anyone - it might just have to stay in my 'private stash' *wink* lol. I'm looking forward to trying some other techniques with this stunning stamp.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

Dahlia Birthday

At a recent play day with my BFF I was fortunate enough to be given permission to try out some of her layering dies. Here's how one of those turned into a card.

Materials used:

• stamps - Tiny Words Birthday (SSS)
• card - whisper white, blackberry bliss, Kaisercraft card (colours unknown)
• other - Birch Press mini dahlia layering dies, Big Shot, Stamparatus, craft foam, glue

I love how simple yet effective these dies are. Now I can't stop thinking about how soon I can get my hands back on these babies and make some more! 

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Talk Nerdy to Me

I'm a nerd. 

Definitely a book nerd (although technically, I suppose I'm a story nerd as most of my reading is done on a Kindle these days). 

A Jane Austen nerd.

A bit of a Shakespeare nerd.

A Funko Pop bobble-head nerd (he he).

A touch of a sci-fi nerd.

And, of course, very much a craft nerd.

So it'll come as no surprise that today's card - a very simple one from a set I've had for a few years - is on the nerdy side of the spectrum. The stamp set is one of those you don't use often but can't bear to get rid of, you know what I mean? Anyway, the argyll patterned paper in the Country Club DSP immediately brought nerdy things to mind and even though I left this card idea floating around in my brain for some time without doing anything about it, it wouldn't let me go until I sat down and made the damn thing up, lol. So here it is for you, a small outpouring of my inner nerd.

Materials used:

• stamps - Smarty Pants by There She Goes 
• card - basic grey, whisper white, basic black, Country Club DSP
• other - stitched rectangle framelit, Big Shot, craft foam, Stamparatus

Hope you're having a nerdtastic day. Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kez

Winter Wishes - CAS on Friday Challenge

Welcome to my very first post as a new member of the CAS on Friday design team! I'm excited to be part of this talented group and can't wait for the fun challenges over the next twelve months. I do hope some of what you see here will inspire you to take part and perhaps, like me, push yourself beyond your usual creative boundaries.

Today's challenge is #171 and the theme is WINTER.

Here in Australia we're currently experiencing the hottest and driest summer in many, many years, so making a card with a winter theme added a distinctly whimsical touch to my day, lol. I have to say the thought of snow and cold was awfully appealing! Here's my card:

Here's a close up look. I used a bamboo skewer to poke the 'snow' in all those fiddly spaces, lol.

Materials used:

• stamps - Grace's Garden (SU), Timeless Textures (SU), Hardwood (SU), Friendship Jar Holiday Fillers (PTI)
• card - whisper white, crumb cake
• other - white embossing powder, heat tool, blending brush, hills and drifts stencil (MFT), shimmer white embossing paste, mounting strips, Dimensionals, Stamparatus, sponge dauber, bamboo skewer, craft foam, watercolour pencils

I love the little bird in this set - here I've coloured it with watercolour pencils to get a soft effect for my 'robin'.

Please visit the other DT members' blogs to view their wonderful winter creations and feel free to leave us all some comment love!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Bright and Breezy

I was having a play day with my BFF yesterday and whenever we get together we do a 'show and tell' of the cards we've been making. Upon seeing one of mine she pronounced, "This one hasn't been on your blog," and after I admitted it hadn't, she ordered "Well put it up there!". So this is me following instructions (enjoy it while you can, Rob) and showing you my tropical-flavoured, bright and breezy card.

Materials used:

• stamps - Tropical Chic, Itty Bitty Greetings
• card - pineapple punch, coastal cabana, whisper white
• ink colours - Bermuda Bay, gorgeous grape, lemon lime twist, coastal cabana, pineapple punch, lovely lipstick, granny apple green, watermelon wonder
• other - tropical dies, Big Shot, sequins, mini glue dots, Dimensionals, clear Wink of Stella, Bermuda bay marker, ruler

The flowers have a touch of shimmer and look gorgeous when they catch the light. 

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

Best Wishes

From the new Sale-a-bration catalogue you can earn for free the gorgeous set called, rather prosaically, Happy Birthday to You. Don't let the hum-drum name fool you though - this is a very versatile set that can be used for much more than just birthdays and as well as the beautiful image I've used on my card today, there are also a few sentiments in attractive fonts. It's well worth having this on your list of 'Must Gets'.

Here's the card I made with it:

I stamped the cake image on watercolour paper using Versamark ink and white embossed it, then coloured with soft applications of subtles inks. Remembering the adage 'less is more', I began with a light layer then went back and added more until I was happy with the result. Hope you like it.

Materials used:

• stamps - Happy Birthday to You, Itty Bitty Greetings
• card - soft sea foam, whisper white, watercolour
• ink colours - soft sea foam, pear pizzazz, so saffron, blushing bride, smoky slate
• other - subtle embossing folder, Big Shot, stitched rectangle die, stitched frame die, aqua painter, Dimensionals, gems

I did fussy cut around the cake but before long you won't have to do the same - next month there will be a promotion called Coordination Product Release and you'll be able to buy the dies to match this set. It will have dies for the cake, stand, flowers and some extra leaves for decoration. 

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

CASE-ing the Catty

Today I decided I would CASE a card from the new mini catalogue - this one in fact from page 13:

I didn't have a number of items used in the sample but I'm happy with how I adapted mine to suit what I have on hand. Here's my version:

Materials used:

• stamps - Grace's Garden (SU), Tiny Words Birthday (SSS)
• card - daffodil delight, whisper white, basic black, gingham DSP
• other - Garden Gateway dies, Big Shot, stitched frame die, white baker's twine, misc heart charm, Stampin' Blends, Dimensionals, mounting strips, white embossing powder, heat tool, misc sentiment frame die

This was quick and easy to put together and I love the cheerful, summery colours. 

Edited to add:
A friend suggested a purple version might be nice, so I gave that a try and love it even more than the yellow.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kez