Simply Fabulous

Day 8 of the hostage situation...

Hey ho! I hope you're doing well in your isolating chambers and have had a chance to get into your craft room for some rejuvenating. I sat down this morning to do some colouring - always a wonderful way to relax - and here's the card I made:

Isn't she adorable? I snagged this image while visiting my BFF a couple of weeks ago and am so pleased to have turned it into a card.

Materials used:

• stamps - Giraffe and sentiment from BFF stash (brands unknown, sorry)
• card - whisper white, early espresso, chestnut (Kaisercraft)
• other - white embossing powder, heat tool, MISTI, craft foam, Copic markers

Speaking of colouring - I ordered some Derwent Inktense blocks just the other day and can't wait for them to be delivered so I can try them out. I'm hoping I'll simply luuuurve watercoloring with them. Stay tuned for progress on that!

Thanks for dropping by. Stay safe and well.

Cheers
Kez

Toucan Do It

Day 5 of the hostage situation...

How are you? I hope you have something pleasant planned for your day or, if you're reading this at night, that you've done things you enjoy.

The silver lining to this pandemic cloud is the amazing preparedness of we crafters! While others may have previously scoffed at our craft-apocalypse tendencies, we can finally say...

ROFLOL!!! Mind you, I'm just grateful that there was no craft store within a 30km radius for me to feel bereft with non-essential businesses closing down; at least I can always keep shopping online! (Yes, I can say that safely with DH in the other hemisphere, lol.)

So, today I made a simple but sweet card. There's a little bit of masking and a smidge of colouring in (which you know I love) but that's really all there is to it (okay, and some fussy cutting too because I didn't buy the matching dies). The twine and sequins are a Sale-a-bration freebie, so score! Lol.

Materials used:

• stamps - Some Birdie Loves You (Clearly Besotted)
• card - whisper white, Bermuda bay, basic black, calypso coral, Butterfly Gala DSP
• other - Stampin Blends, Big Shot, stitched rectangle die, post-it notes, mini Dimensionals, metallic baker's twine and sequins combo (SAB), glue, craft foam

Thanks for stopping by. Stay safe and well.

Cheers

Kez

Cheers - CAS on Friday Challenge #176

Welcome back to another CAS on Friday challenge.

This is challenge #176 and the theme is BIRTHDAY. 

Sooooo many possibilities abound with a birthday theme and I often stick with balloons unless I know the person well - they're happy and cheerful and gender-neutral. This time, however, I was tempted by a scrummy looking cocktail and a big fat cherry.

Here's my card:

Materials used:

• stamps - Adult Beverages (SSS), Adult Beverages Sayings (SSS), birthday stamps from stash
• card - whisper white, lemon lime twist, basic black
• distress oxide inks - mustard seed, spiced marmalade, candied apple
• other - white embossing powder, heat tool, Adult Beverages dies, Big Shot, Dimensionals, craft foam, white gel pen, scalpel, blending brush, post-it notes, Stamparatus, Bermuda bay and cherry cobbler Stampin' Blends

To get that gorgeous looking drink, I stamped the glass on a post-it note and cut out a reverse mask - ie I cut out only the 'bowl' of the glass, which meant everything else was covered up.

Then I used a small blending brush and distress oxide inks to colour it in. Very simple, I promise. The umbrella was coloured with alcohol markers and I added the polka dots with a white gel pen for a bit of fun.

I've got a birthday coming up myself in a couple of weeks - one of those big scary ones with an '0' at the end of it. I had planned to spend it with my DD in Scotland but sadly those plans have had to be put on hold for a while as we all deal with the new reality of a worldwide pandemic. I do hope you're all well and remain so for the duration. 

Please follow the link to the CASOF blog to see what beauties my fellow design team members have come up with for birthday cards, and we'd sure love it if you played along with the challenge. It would give you something cheerful to do while you isolate/hibernate! 

Thanks for calling in and take care.

Cheers

Kez

Stencil-icious

I recently acquired the Peony Bouquet stencil from Simon Says Stamp and had some fun creating two cards inspired by the uber-talented Kristina Werner. The first one was very straightforward as it's all in shades of blue, but the second took a little more delicate handling, lol. Still, I'm very happy with the outcome.

They look quite different, don't they? That's what colour will do!

Materials used:

• stamps - Tiny Words Birthday (SSS), Abstract Impressions (SU)
• card - dapper denim, whisper white, garden green, purple posy
• other - Peony Bouquet stencil (SSS), sequins, blender pens, Stamparatus, craft foam, Altenew and Distress Oxide inks

Thanks for calling in. 

Cheers

Kez

Hey, Honeybee

Today's card features Honeybee Tilda, a stamp I haven't used in quite a while, plus a great circle birthday die I borrowed from my bestie. The background papers are from the Golden Honey designer series you can get for free in SU's Sale-a-bration catalogue.

Isn't she a sweetie? Her wings are nice and sparkly from some clear Wink of Stella but unfortunately that doesn't show much in the photo. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Honeybee Tilda (Magnolia)
• card - whisper white, basic black, Golden Honey DSP
• other - happy birthday circle die, Big Shot, craft foam, Dimensionals, Stampin' Blends and Copic markers, clear Wink of Stella, epoxy dots

Thanks for dropping by. Do come back on Friday for the next CAS on Friday challenge!

Cheers

Kez

Summer Lovin'

What a whirlwind of weather patterns we've had over the past few months! From scorching high temperatures and the hottest summer on record, to torrential rain and now yesterday was the coldest March day in twelve years. Mother Nature must be going through the change, I think! Lol. In light of the cooler temperatures it seems weird to be posting a tropical summer-themed card, but there you go.

I love this cute flip-flops (jandals/thongs) die set and how perfectly it matches with the papers from SU's mini catalogue. 

Materials used:

• stamps - none
• card - whisper white, garden green, real red, daffodil delight, Tropical Oasis DSP
• other - stitched rectangle die, Big Shot, flip flops dies (Paper Smooches), Dimensionals, blending brush, computer and printer, craft foam

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Edited to add: Managed to get a sunnier day, so retook the photo - now shows the colours much better! 

Lovely Day

I've just realised all my class cards this time around feature flowers! That wasn't intentional, it was more about techniques, but hopefully the ladies will like them anyway. Here's my third project for them:

Materials used:

• stamps - Beautiful Friendship, Forever Lovely
• card - purple posy, whisper white, basic black
• inks - purple posy, highland heather, gorgeous grape, granny apple green, pool party, Memento tuxedo black
• other - centre step card dies (ODBD), Big Shot, Stamparatus, craft foam, black baker's twine, scrap paper for mask

The background 'paper' is made by stamping the hydrangea stamp onto whisper white using purple posy ink and I masked off the main flower on the centre panel before stamping the leaves and other flowers. The baker's twine was split approximately in half to make it thinner. Because there's not a lot of space on the thin panels, I've swiped a black ink pad around the 'paper' to give the impression of another layer without actually adding one. 

I'm heading off overseas for a while so apart from my CAS on Friday design team posts every second Friday night, card posts from me may be few and far between. Take care while I'm gone and keep crafting! 

Thanks for popping by.

Cheers

Kez

You're My Anchor - CAS on Friday Challenge

Can you believe another fortnight has passed? I know! And of course that means it's time for a CAS on Friday challenge. I do hope you'll be inspired to join us.

This is challenge #175 and the theme is BOYS AND THEIR TOYS.

Of course, those of you who've been following me for a while will know that for my 'boy' (ie hubby) I could not go past making him a sailing themed card. Most of my nautical stamps, papers etc are over on our boat, but I did have at home an anchor die and some retired SU 'ship's log' papers that did the trick just fine. Here's my card:

I wanted the anchor to have an aged, well-worn look (much like hubby himself, lol) so I cut it from copper foil then had a ball adding spray stains and inks to make it look old and rusted. Heating these to dry them also caused some of the coating on the foil to curl and bubble a bit, giving me some bonus extra texture! I put two more layers of card underneath the foil for more dimension.

Materials used:

• card - cajun craze, early espresso, copper foil, Nautical Expedition designer papers (retired)
• other - anchor die (Kaisercraft), Big Shot, twine, glue, various inks, black mini Dimensionals, heat tool, craft foam, distress spray stains - brushed pewter, tarnished brass

Now pop on over to the challenge blog to see the fabulous cards the rest of the design team have created and don't forget to leave us all some comment love!

Thanks for dropping anchor.

Cheers

Kez

Garden Arch

For our next class we'll be making a couple of fancy fold cards, the first of which is this simple diorama card featuring the gorgeous arched gate die from the mini catalogue. When I first saw the preview of this catalogue, this was the stamp set and die bundle that appealed to me the most and I knew it would be 'first cab off the rank' when I ordered!

It folds flat into regular C6 size for postage, which is always handy.

Materials used:

• stamps - Grace's Garden, This Little Piggy
• card - whisper white thick
• other - Garden Gateway dies, Big Shot, Stampin' Blends, glue, blending brush, Stamparatus, mini cloud stencil (MFT)

Once I've finished making our other 3D project, I'll be back, and to keep you going there'll be a new CAS challenge tomorrow night. Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez