Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Putting On The Hex

I've been having a play with the hexagon punch, kindly loaned to me by my mate Rob. My two cards are the same design but the colours and embellishments create a whole different look.

Firstly a card for DD21, who returned to uni in Melbourne last week after a visit that was way too short for her mama! She loves polka dots.


Materials used:
  • stamps - Really Good Greetings (MDS)
  • card - basic black, very vanilla, raspberry ripple, Modern Medley dsp
  • other - hexagon punch, dimensionals, scallop ribbon border punch, owl punch

And DD always, always looks inside my cards to see if I've decorated in there too, so of course I had to for her card!


And my second card has a touch of Spring with some bright florals and ginghams.


Materials used:
  • stamps - Really Good Greetings (MDS)
  • card - island indigo, whisper white, daffodil delight, melon mambo, Gingham Garden dsp (MDS)
  • other - hexagon punch, dimensionals, itty bitty punch, rhinestones, embossing stylus, shaping mat (non SU)

Now that I have had a play with it, I think this punch will get bumped up higher on my wish list!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Keep Calm


We had a Christmas in July dinner at our place last night and it was really lovely having a festive time in front of a roaring fire. We even had crackers and Secret Santa and candy canes on the tree! Experiencing a white Christmas is on my bucket list, so hopefully one of these days ...

Here's a pic of the table all set and lit by candles, and you can see our fledgling tree in the background:



And today is the first of our Christmas stamp-a-stack classes - cos we all know that once July hits, it's only downhill until Dec 25th!!! 

In a stamp-a-stack I design two cards and my lovely ladies make five of each design, including stamping on inserts and envelopes. By the end of October they will have 40 handmade Christmas cards all ready to send to family and friends.

Here is what I have concocted for this month:



There's a little bit of silver ink sponged over the embossed frame to highlight it and the silver glitter and ribbon look gorgeous against the dark blue.

Materials used:
  • stamps - Ornamental Keepsakes, More Merry Messages
  • card - midnight muse, whisper white, silver glitter
  • other - holiday frame embossing folder, holiday ornaments dies, Big Shot, dimensionals
  • non SU - silver ink, silver ribbon

For this one I created the sentiment panel on MDS, replacing the original snowflakes with some mistletoe and colouring it all up. In the background are mice kissing under some mistletoe - ka-yute!

Materials used:
  • stamps - MDS
  • card - cherry cobbler, very vanilla, early espresso
  • other - sponge daubers, dimensionals, Big Shot
  • non SU - nestabilities die, House Mouse stamp

I am looking forward to the release of the Holiday Catalogue and some gorgeous new papers, stamps and embellishments to play with for future classes. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez

Saturday, July 20, 2013

NSU - A Wedding Card Challenge

With DD21 at home from uni, my craft room has been taken over and consequently not much creating has been done in the last few days.

However, DD did ask me to make a card for a wedding she will be attending in a couple of weeks which posed a challenge for my stamp collection; it's a same-sex wedding, so I can't use my favourite bride and groom image, nor 'Mr and Mrs' type sentiment stamps. 

The colours for the wedding are red and purple, so I wanted to incorporate those into the card somehow and to make it romantic and elegant. In the end I didn't use any stamps at all, but typed my sentiment on the computer.

This is what I came up with:



Materials used:
  • card - perfect plum, gumball green
  • other - dotted scallop ribbon border punch, Big Shot
  • non SU - white linen cardstock, purchased paper roses, rose petal punch and embossing punch, Tied Together embossing folder, glue gun, pearls, computer and printer

DD is very happy with it, so hopefully the happy couple will be too. I think I'll have to make a special gusseted envelope for it though - that's the next challenge!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez

Thursday, July 11, 2013

A Taste of Summer

My Lana ladies loved some sample cards I showed them using the Summer Silhouettes stamp set, so we are making one in class this week: 


Materials used:
  • stamps - Summer Silhouettes, Curly Cute (retired)
  • card - basic black, wild wasabi
  • other - Versamark ink, embossing powders in tempting turquoise, melon mambo and wild wasabi

We will also be making this soft card inspired by a Miriam creation:



Materials used:
  • stamps - Label Love, gingham wheel
  • card - pistachio pudding, smoky slate, whisper white, vellum
  • other - delicate designs E/F, Big Shot, bitty butterfly punch, fancy fan E/F, artisan label punch, dimensionals, little leaves die, pearls
  • non SU - white linen card, doily die

And we are playing with washi tape for the last card, which uses the same stamps as the card above but has a totally different look:



Materials used:
  • stamps - Label Love, Gingham wheel
  • card - elegant eggplant, strawberry slush, whisper white
  • inks - strawberry slush
  • other - artisan label punch, bitty butterfly punch, dimensionals, gingham garden washi tape

It's nice to get a touch of summer as we huddle around the heater! 

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Holiday Kids

Last school holidays I did a kids craft class and they loved it so much they asked for another these holidays. Over the last few days I have had soooo much fun designing projects for them to make! These are the three items we'll be doing.

A pop up birthday card:




Materials used:
  • stamps - Party This Way (retired)
  • card - real red, whisper white, marina mist, retired dsp, Polka Dot dsp
  • other - real red narrow ribbon, dotted scallop ribbon border punch, dimensionals, owl punch, bakers twine, 1 3/4" circle punch

A Spongebob box:


Materials used:
  • card - crushed curry, basic black, whisper white, Pacific point, cherry cobbler
  • punches - word window (cut in half for teeth), horizontal slot (eyelashes), 1 3/8" circle (black for outer circles of eyes and yellow for cheeks), 1 1/4" circle (white part of eyes), 3/4" circle (blue part of eyes), 1/2" circle (black inner circle of eyes), small oval (cut slightly at one end for nose), 1" square (cut in half for shirt collar), wide oval (upper lip, behind cheeks and nose), 1 3/4" circle (black mouth), heart (tongue)
  • other - polka dot embossing folder, Big Shot, sponge daubers, dimensionals, soft suede marker

And for our last project some minions on a bookmark - how cute are these? (Inspired by Amber Meulenbelt)


Materials used:
  • card - real red, daffodil delight, basic black, not quite navy
  • punches - owl, jewellery tag, 1/4" circle, small oval (the old retired one)
  • other - white gel pen, googlie eyes, black marker, two tags die, Big Shot

Hopefully the kids will have just as much fun making these as I did! Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers
Kez

Monday, July 1, 2013

Mad For Mosaics

In preparation for this month's classes I've been having a play with the Mosaic suite of products available TOMORROW in the 2013-2014 Annual Catalogue. I want to show my ladies a variety of styles, colours and uses to illustrate the versatility of this on-trend shape.

Firstly some 2012-14 in colours


Materials used:
  • stamps - Mosaic Madness, Happiest Birthday Wishes (retired)
  • card - whisper white, midnight muse
  • inks - midnight muse, raspberry ripple, summer starfruit, gumball green
  • other - stamp-a-ma-jig, mosaic punch, itty bitty punch, rhinestones, dimensionals

Much more subdued for this second one, with simple colours used for a simple design.


Materials used:
  • stamps - Mosaic Madness, Fabulous Phrases
  • card - crumb cake, cherry cobbler, very vanilla
  • inks - crumb cake, cherry cobbler
  • other - mosaic embossing folder, stamp-a-ma-jig, dimensionals, mosaic punch, Big Shot

Next what I call a "full-blown" mosaic tile pattern; a bit time-consuming to construct, but I love how it turned out.


Materials used:
  • stamps - Mosaic Madness, Layered Labels
  • card - whisper white, pool party
  • inks - pool party, so saffron, calypso coral
  • other - stamp-a-ma-jig, mosaic punch, mosaic E/F, Big Shot, dimensionals, apothecary accents die, large oval die

Then I got real adventurous and added some blingaliciousness to the mix! Unfortunately it didn't photograph half as gorgeous as it looks IRL.


Materials used:
  • stamps - Mosaic Madness, Fabulous Phrases
  • card - basic black, silver glitter
  • inks - Versamark
  • other - embossing powders in silver, melon mambo, tempting turquoise and wild wasabi, mosaic punch, itty bitty punch, rhinestones, dimensionals, heat tool, embossing buddy

And lastly a flexible design that can be used for many different occasions with a change of colour and sentiment.


Materials used:
  • stamps - Mosaic Madness, Curly Cute (retired)
  • card - smoky slate, whisper white, Bermuda bay, coastal cabana
  • inks - Bermuda bay, coastal cabana
  • other - mosaic E/F, mosaic punch, pearls, dimensionals

Hope you've enjoyed this taste of mosaic! Thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez