Sunday, July 31, 2011

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

Friday, July 29, 2011

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

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

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

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

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

Friday, July 8, 2011

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

Sunday, July 3, 2011

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