A Truth Universally Acknowledged

Well, I've made it to the end of week 5 of the hostage situation lockdown. And it is a truth universally acknowledged that a crafter in possession of a goodly amount of inks, stamps and dies - not to mention time - must be in search of a challenge. 

How fortunate then, that the wonderful folks at Just Add Ink have a colour challenge this week - you know how much I love those. As soon as I saw this combo I thought 'sunset and silhouette', so that is what I have done. 

I dusted off my brayer for this one and love how stunning polished pink and pale papaya look together. It was a very straightforward card to make - once I'd done the background I simply had to attach the die cut pieces. And yes, some of those tiny butterflies did give me attitude, but I prevailed in the end!

You'll see I've foregone a sentiment; I decided it would be one of those multi-purpose cards you grab and write inside to suit the occasion as it arises. 

Materials used:

• card - basic white, basic black
• dies - The Park. Flower Field (both Tim Holtz)
• other - brayer, glue, tweezers

We've at least another 4 weeks of lockdown ahead, so I'll have plenty of time to look for some more fun challenges to relieve the boredom take part in. Boo-yah!

Thanks for dropping in.

Cheers

Kerry

All Is Calm

As soon as I saw the colours in the current Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge, I thought they'd make a gorgeous sunrise combo. 

This morning I got out my brayers and blending brushes and got to work and this is what I ended up with. The 'speckly' effect on the sky is from shimmer mist, which has a gorgeous sparkle when it catches the light.

Materials used:

• stamps - Wonderland (SU retired)
• card - whisper white, basic black, Sahara sand
• other - Darling Deer dies (Tim Holtz), brayers, blending brush, sponge dauber, stitched rectangle die, Big Shot, white gel pen, mini Dimensionals, champagne shimmer mist

To me it's very peaceful and serene, so the sentiment stamped inside is 'All is calm, all is bright.'

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

Edited to add: I was honoured to be among the Artists Pick for my card. Thank you ladies!

Rosy Relaxing

Our team challenge this month is to draw inspiration from the current Everything is Rosy product medley promotion.

I wanted to use the colours as my inspiration but was having trouble deciding on a stamp set and design until I woke this morning with the idea to brayer a beautiful sunrise. After that the rest just fell into place, except now I'm jealous of anyone relaxing in a warm tropical setting while here the weather cools more every day!

I kept the front simple and put my sentiment inside.

Materials used:

• stamps - Beach Happy
• card - whisper white, melon mambo, night of navy
• inks - night of navy, blushing bride, melon mambo
• other - Stamparatus, brayer, post-it notes, 2 1/2" circle punch, sponge dauber, stitched framelits, Big Shot, mounting tape, night of navy marker, washi tape

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kez

Does It Feel Like a Decade?

Today I've been a Stampin' Up! demonstrator for ten years.

A decade.

And you know how it goes - it feels like it went by really quickly yet very slowly at the same time. It's kind of hard to imagine there was a time when I wasn't involved with SU, though I can clearly recall my early forays into card making and certainly rubber stamping.

The best part of the last ten years is most definitely, for me, the making of friendships. It's a testament to human nature how easily we bond over common interests and it is a constant joy to me to get together with a group of people and enjoy the pleasure of creating. I'm lucky enough to have in my life my crafty demo friends, the amazing group of women who have been coming to my card classes for a huge portion of those ten years, the wonderful ladies who attend my stamp camps year after year, and of course, you. Yes you, especially if you didn't just pop in here by chance, but are a regular visitor. Sure, I like creating on my own, but I gain much more enjoyment when sharing it with others, and I am very grateful to Stampin' Up! for having brought that fulfilment to my life.

So thanks, SU, for the last ten years, and thanks also to all the crafty people in my life who have shared those ten years with me. Here's to many more.

And, well - naturally - I made a card. An anniversary card to myself, I suppose. When I thought about the kind of card I wanted to make I immediately decided on one of my all time favourite techniques, so I wiped the dust motes off my brayers and got to work. Here's what happened:

Materials used:

• stamps - Enjoy Life
• card - whisper white, basic black, mango melody
• inks - daffodil delight, crushed curry, mango melody, calypso coral, balmy blue, Versamark
• other - Stamparatus, brayer, 1 3/8" circle punch, post it note, white embossing powder, heat tool, black embossing powder

A message we should all take note of, isn't it? To enjoy life. We only get one, after all. So get out there today and do something that brings you pleasure, whatever that may be, and kick some metaphorical butt!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Live With Passion

SU came to my rescue this morning.

Imagine the card below with no sentiment on it and this is the dilemma I faced. Yes, I had a lot of fun brayering the sky background, and yes, it was a challenge to get my die upright when I couldn't see what I was doing - but then I took my card out to DD18 and asked, "What kind of sentiment would I put on this card?" Her reply basically told me I had to work it out on my own, so I turned to my SU catalogues for inspiration. Luckily for me, I didn't have to go any further than the new Occasions catalogue, and more specifically, page 24 and the gorgeous set Beautiful You.

Materials used:

• stamps - Beautiful You
• card - watermelon wonder, whisper white, basic black
• inks - so saffron, calypso coral, watermelon wonder, Versamark
• other - white embossing powder, heat tool, MISTI, brayer, 3/4" circle punch, post it note, tree branch circle die (Memory Box), Big Shot, two-way glue pen, embossing buddy

Words that are deep and meaningful definitely suit dramatic colours, don't they? 

Thanks for dropping in.

Cheers

Kez

By Popular Request

This month in class we are dusting off our brayers and getting inky with some brayered backgrounds and silhouette stamps. Not only do they look fantastic, but they also act as enough of a focal feature on your card that you rarely need anything else.

Brayering is a lot of fun but it does take a bit of practise. I love the wonderful blending I can achieve when I just can't seem to get quite the same effect with sponging. If you're interested, I've got a short video tutorial on brayering over in the right hand sidebar - look for the heading Tutorials - that someone took when I was demonstrating at a Stampin' Up! event a couple of years ago.

For the first card I used pool party and blushing bride inks and a circle punch mask. I brayered from opposite ends of my whisper white paper and the middle third of the piece is overlapped inks. Doesn't it make an exquisite sunrise/sunset?

Materials used:

• stamps - World of Dreams, Wetlands
• card - pool party, basic black, whisper white
• other - brayer, 1 1/4" circle punch, post-it note, stamp-a-ma-jig, Dimensionals

I've used masking again for the next card, this time to mask off an area to brayer in. I stamped first then laid the circle mask and a post-it along the bottom. The sentiment was done on the computer. Ink colours used were delightful dijon, cajun craze, cherry cobbler.

Materials used:

• stamps - Landscape Silhouettes (Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps)
• card - cajun craze, basic black, whisper white, delightful dijon
• other - circle framelits, Big Shot, brayer, Dimensionals, post-it note, computer and printer, banner punch

And lastly a 'birdies on the wire' card. This time I brayered with daffodil delight, calypso coral and watermelon wonder.

Materials used:

• stamps - none
• card - Sahara sand, basic black, whisper white
• other - bird punch, Dimensionals, hello honey thick bakers twine, brayer

Hope you like the brayered cards and are inspired to give it a go yourself. But be warned - once you get the hang of it, it's terribly addictive! 

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

Sending Wishes

The colour combination at the Fab Friday Challenge really grabbed me this week.

They're very autumnal colours but here in Australia it's spring, so I didn't want to do an autumn card. I did think they might look good together brayered, so I sat down and had a go and sure enough, they blended together beautifully. Dramatic but evocative, in my opinion.

Once I'd done the brayering I then had to decide what to stamp over it! Lol. I went with a very simple design and layout for an almost-any-occasion type card. Here tis:

Materials used:

• stamps - World of Dreams, Butterfly Basics
• card - blackberry bliss, hello honey, whisper white
• inks - blackberry bliss, hello honey, cajun craze, Versamark
• other - crushed curry embossing powder, heat tool, embossing buddy, brayer, Dimensionals

There are plenty of birds around our place at this time of year and it's lovely to hear their singing and twittering - unless it's early in the morning of course! Then I'm not so happy!

I hope you're hearing plenty of birdsong at your place too. Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Traditional? Bah Humbug!

It's been an absolute AGE since I took part in any challenges and this month on our SU team's FB page there's a colour challenge which really appealed to me. The colours are Blushing Bride, Watermelon Wonder and Gold, with a neutral as an option.

The first idea I had was a Christmas card but the colours are certainly non-traditional for that theme, aren't they? Doesn't matter; I went ahead and did it anyway and I have to say I LOVE IT!

Here's my card:

I stamped the trees on whisper white using black StazOn ink and some second-stage stamping (ie not re-inking first). Then I stamped the snowflakes using Versamark ink and clear embossed them. Next I brayered using blush blossom and watermelon wonder and once my ink was dry, rubbed over the snowflakes with a tissue to remove the excess ink and make them whiter. I added my touches of gold with some glitter card and gold embossing the sentiment on to black and the final touch was the rhinestone for a smidge more sparkle.

What do you think? Do you like non-traditional Christmas colours or do you usually like to stick with red and green?

Materials used:

• stamps - Wonderland, Petite Pairs
• card - watermelon wonder, whisper white, basic black, gold glitter
• other - clear embossing powder, gold embossing powder, heat tool, brayer, banner punch, rhinestone, Dimensionals, embossing buddy

You do realise it's only 72 days until Christmas don't you? Haha! Did that freak you out? lol

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

New Christmas Goodies

Last month's cards for our Christmas stamp-a-stack (yes, I'm a little late taking photos and posting this!) featured goodies from the new Holiday mini catalogue.

The first card used the Sleigh Ride edgelits to create a winter's night scene; I paired them with some lovely paper from Kaiser.

Materials used:

• stamps - Good Greetings
• card - basic black, basic grey, smoky slate, Kaiser touch of gold collection, non SU white
• other - gold embossing powder, heat tool, Sleigh Ride edgelits, Dimensionals, Big Shot

Our second card is a mash up of two I liked from Pinterest. I used brayering for the background of the focal panel but some of my ladies used sponging instead. 

Materials used:

• stamps - Ornamental Pine, Wonderland
• card - elegant eggplant, very vanilla, naturals ivory
• inks - wisteria wonder, perfect plum, elegant eggplant
• other - brayer, Dimensionals, softly falling embossing folder, Big Shot

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Happy New Home

My dear friend and downline lost her home and all her possessions in the devastating firestorm we had here in October 2013 and finally - after 18 months living in a small tin hut - she has moved into her brand new home.

Tonight she has invited the craft "gang" to a celebration dinner and tour around the new abode, including - of course - her brand new craft room! I wanted to take her a small gift so I sat down this afternoon and made her this:

I stamped the bird silhouette in basic black craft ink and embossed with clear, added my moon mask and then brayered with so saffron, hello honey, cajun craze and cherry cobbler. 

Materials used:

• stamps - World of Dreams, Letter It, Teeny Tiny Sentiments
• card - whisper white, basic black, so saffron, cajun craze
• inks - basic black, so saffron, hello honey, cajun craze, cherry cobbler, black StazOn
• other - clear embossing powder, heat tool, 1 3/8" circle punch, brayer, Dimensionals, stamp-a-ma-jig, basic black marker, purchased wooden frame

I know she has neutral tones in the new house, so I'm hoping these colours will fit in perfectly!

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers

Kez

Of Course We Are Brayering!

My third project at stamp camp involves - no surprise - brayering. I am introducing the ladies to some simple techniques and so kept our project card pretty simple as well, just a bit of masking but nothing too technical!

I am totally in love with this colour combination though, so keep your eyes open for it appearing on my blog again no doubt!

Materials used:

• stamps - Up, Up and Away
• card - smoky slate, whisper white, basic black
• inks - daffodil delight, crushed curry, smoky slate, basic grey, basic black

That's my three projects done, but don't worry there's plenty more to show you from stamp camp - my two shoebox cards as well as all of Rob's gorgeous projects - so call back in real soon!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Sunrise

I was very good yesterday and got a lot of work done preparing for this weekend's craft show, so to reward myself I got out my brayer. It has been a bit neglected of late, so it felt really good to be "rolling the rubber" again.

Having seen a brayered triple layer stamping card on Pinterest, I was keen to give it a try and here is what I ended up with:

Materials used:

• stamps - My Friend
• card - so saffron, whisper white, basic black
• inks - so saffron, regal rose, melon mambo, black StazOn
• other - dimensionals, brayer, post-it notes, 1 3/4" circle punch, sponge dauber

Now back to the grindstone!

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Kez

Blue on Blue

I've been having a lot of fun with my brayers recently as I am doing a demonstration on that technique shortly (more on that later) and I've been inspired by all the triple layer cards around at the moment. I only wanted to use two layers and still align the stamping, and I thought "why not brayer on my second layer?"

So here is the result of all that thinking!

Materials used:

• stamps - Just Believe, Field Flowers
• card - bashful blue, basic black, whisper white
• inks - bashful blue, marina mist, night of navy, black StazOn
• other - brayer, dimensionals, basic black satin ribbon

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Masked Mustard

We're having more fun with brayering at today's workshop and my ladies are keen to try out some masking. It's terribly addictive once you get going!

Inspired by this gorgeous card of Paula Dobson's, here is what I came up with:

I brayered with so saffron and more mustard at the top, then soft suede at the base. The trees were stamped in soft suede and early espresso and I added some espresso sponging around the base as well. The birds (from Up, Up and Away) are also stamped in espresso.

Just love these colours together so many thanks for the inspiration Paula.

Materials used:

• stamps - Lovely as a Tree, Teeny Tiny Sentiments, Up Up & Away
• card - more mustard, early espresso, whisper white
• other - post it notes, brayer, sponge daubers, stamp-a-ma-jig, 32 mm circle punch

And here is the sweet little gift box I made for my hostess:

Materials used:

• stamps - Growing Green, Because I Care
• card - pink pirouette, certainly celery, whisper white, pink pirouette patterns paper
• inks - wild wasabi, certainly celery, regal rose, pretty in pink
• other - scallop trim border punch, pennants die, Big Shot, two tags die, watercolour crayons, pearls, dimensionals, aquapainter

How about dusting off your brayer for some fun soon?

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Anniversary Brayer

We're doing brayering at my workshop today and I couldn't possibly go wrong with choosing a Michelle Zindorf card for inspiration! I originally cased Michelle's card here but the colours for today's card were inspired by a gorgeous box that one of my Christmas gifts came in.

On my card's background I stamped the splodge stamp from French Foliage with both pool party and whisper white inks and sponged the edges.

Materials used:

• stamps - Inspired by Nature, French Foliage, Teeny Tiny Sentiments
• card - pool party, basic black, whisper white
• inks - pool party, basic black, whisper white
• other - bird punch, sponge daubers, dimensionals, stamp-a-ma-jig

My photo really doesn't do it justice, the colour is just gorgeous.

Thanks for dropping by. 

Cheers

Kez

Sydney Regionals Workshop Wow

At last I have finally gotten around to re-creating the Workshop Wow card I left with SU and can now show you the projects I presented.

I called my presentation Five Great Tips for Happy Brayering and demonstrated basic brayering technique with a little bit of masking as well, for using on backgrounds.

My Five Great Tips are:

1. Always begin with your lightest colour first (this saves you having to clean the brayer in between if you go from lightest to darkest)
2. Hold on to your inkpad! (learnt that one from experience!)
3. Roll your brayer in one direction ONLY when you are inking it up (gives a more even coating of ink)
4. Check your inking is even (turn the rubber roller to make sure the ink is even all the way around, otherwise you'll get lines)
5. Begin brayering a little above your piece of paper (again to avoid lines, roll a couple of times above the paper then move down)

Here's my first card made with a very simple brayered background:

Materials used:

• stamps - Growing Green, Teeny Tiny Sentiments
• card - pretty in pink, whisper white, certainly celery, wild wasabi, pink pirouette patterned paper, watercolour paper
• inks - certainly celery, wild wasabi, pink pirouette, pretty in pink, black StazOn, Versamark
• other - pretty in pink satin ribbon, square lattice embossing folder, bird punch, 1" circle punch, white embossing powder, dimensionals, brayer

Then I explained how to mask for a sun or moon and gave a quick demo of how to mask for hills or mountains. Here is the finished card for that sample:

Materials used:

• stamps - Word Play, Inspired by Nature
• card - tangerine tango, basic black, whisper white
• inks - calypso coral, tangerine tango, black StazOn
• other - post it notes, dimensionals, brayer

I had other samples on display, most of which have appeared on my blog already (just use my search facility for brayering), but here are some new cards I made for samples:

Materials used:

• stamps - Upsy Daisy
• card - wisteria wonder, concord crush, whisper white, concord crush patterned paper
• inks - wisteria wonder, concord crush
• other - post it note, dimensionals, 1 3/8" circle punch, brayer

And this one, inspired by Paula Dobson, where I've brayered on very vanilla for a change:

Materials used:

• stamps - Autumn Days
• card - early espresso, very vanilla, crumb cake
• inks - crumb cake, soft suede, early espresso
• other - 1 3/8" circle punch, post it notes, brayer

Brayering is like any new skill, you just have to practice tons! Play around and try out what works for you - but most of all, HAVE FUN!

Happy Brayering!

Cheers

Kez

Coral Love

I promise to show you photos of my presentation at Sydney Regionals soon - there's just a slight hiccup as I left one of my cards with SU and afterwards realised I hadn't taken any photos of it! All I have is a terrible scan, so I'll see if I can get photos from someone else or I'll have to recreate the card.

Meanwhile, here's a card I made from one of the practice pieces I didn't end up using:

I wasn't sure about the colour combo on this one at first but it is growing on me and I'm liking it more and more.

Materials used:

• stamps - Forever Young, Teeny Tiny Sentiments
• card - blush blossom (retired), basic black, whisper white, Baja breeze patterned stack
• inks - basic black, calypso coral, tangerine tango
• other - brayer, post it note, Baja breeze seam binding, jewellery tag punch, dimensionals

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

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

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