Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Just Me and My 'Connies'

If I'm being honest, I would have to admit there have been advantages to having been forced into retirement; one of those being that I get to spend most of my days in casual clothes. Hand-in-hand with that is having reached "that age" where I mostly choose my footwear for comfort rather than fashion (yes, it pains me to admit it, but it can no longer be denied) - and thus, enter my favourite shoes: my red Converse sneakers. (Not that they're not fashionable, cos they are, but they're not office attire!) These factors are a large part, I'm guessing, of the appeal that the SAB stamp set Epic Celebrations holds for me. I simply cannot resist those sneakers!

So yesterday I happened to be at my friend Robbie's house and she just happened to let me have a play with her new Brushos, and then I just happened to get a brand spanking new Stamparatus - and yeah, okay - Houston, we have a card. (Unfortunately, I also just happened to not notice my stamping was a bit crooked until the card was finished. Ho hum. At least the recipient probably won't notice.) Here tis:


Materials used:

  • stamps - Epic Celebrations
  • card - pumpkin pie, basic black, watercolour
  • other - Stamparatus, layered circles dies, Big Shot, Dimensionals, aqua painter, Brushos, water spritzer

Are you loving it? Me too. This'll go into the pile for DD25 to give to her students - which is a wonderful excuse for me to make kid cards and teen cards now that both my daughters are too old for such things! Well, until they start giving me grandbabies, that is (lol).

I hope you have the chance to have a play in your craft area today. Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez

Thursday, February 22, 2018

A Vintage Card for a Vintage Man

In class this week we're making the very simple masculine cards I showed you here, but I also wanted to give my ladies something with a 'bit more' to get their teeth into. A perusal of Pinterest gave me some great ideas, so I hauled out some Tim Holtz dies my DH bought me a while ago which had never seen the light of day (*guilty face*) and reached for my texture paste. Here's what I ended up with:



Firstly I coloured my texture paste with 3 drops of re-inker and applied that to my stencil, randomly using a dabbing motion at the end because I wanted a mix of rough and smooth textures. While that dried I cut my cogs, making sure to use the precision mat for delicate dies so they cut sharply and were easy to remove. I stamped the car and coloured it using ink and a blender pen. Some of the cogs have extra layers for dimension and added interest - the ones at the top and side that protrude past the border, plus the bottom right hand one.

Overall, I'm happy with how it turned out and even 'He Who Is Particularly Fussy And Difficult To Please' thinks it's pretty nice.

Materials used:
  • stamps - Guy Greetings
  • card - basic black, very vanilla, baked brown sugar
  • other - stitched oval dies, Big Shot, Tim Holtz cog dies, texture paste, silicone mat, spatula, Dimensionals, stencil, blender pen, precision plate

Hope you get the chance to play creatively today. Thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Sending You Hugs

If you're a crafter - and let's face it, you probably are if you're reading this - then you may know how it can sometimes happen that you wake up with a project design in your head. I have no idea how it happens that way, just that it's a nice feeling to suddenly have that idea there, rather than have to search for inspiration.

So yes, as you've no doubt already guessed, this morning I woke with the following card floating around inside my grey matter and as soon as I got up out of bed, I went into my craft room to turn it into a reality. For this particular idea, maybe it's because we're big huggers in our family; certainly the wide open arms of the panda made me think of hugs.


Now the panda stamp comes with a party hat on his head, so how did I get rid of that? Well, the answer is that before I stamped him/her I covered the hat with washi tape which was removed after inking, then once stamped merely filled in the missing bits using my black marker. Easy as pie! The border around the 'sending you' sentiment was a lucky happenstance - when I inked up my stamp with Versamark, I obviously pressed way too hard and got ink all around the outside edges of the stamp as well. Of course I didn't know it was there until I applied the embossing powder, when I saw this great border. Pure coincidence, but look how well it turned out! Lastly, to make the 'hugs' part stand out a bit more, I used a Versamark pen to apply ink and clear embossed it. Here's a close up of the shine:


Unfortunately, when I decided I needed to move the position of the sequins, I discovered my mini glue dots had worked too efficiently and they were there for the duration unless I wanted to rip my card. Damn! Ah well, lesson learned, eh?

Materials used:
  • stamps - Party Pandas, Lovely Inside & Out
  • card - basic black, whisper white, melon mambo, retired dsp
  • other - Lovely Words thinlits, Big Shot, white embossing powder, heat tool, Dimensionals, Veramark pen, clear embossing powder, sequins, mini glue dots

I hope you are blessed with some creative inspiration in your day - and a hug or two as well. Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez

Friday, February 16, 2018

Hamming It Up

It's always a blast to make a card that's cute and funny at the same time, so I was chuffed to play with one of the stamp sets Santa brought me. And I got to do some colouring in, so it's all good! Lol.


Materials:

  • stamps - Hog Heaven (MFT)
  • card - daffodil delight, whisper white, rich razzleberry, Tutti Fruitti dsp
  • other - Stampin' Blends, MFT Hog Heaven dies, Big Shot, Dimensionals, simple stripes embossing folder

These little guys are so adorable, they always make me smile. Having made one, I was then inspired to create another, so here tis.


Materials:
  • stamps - Hog Heaven (MFT)
  • card - whisper white, tranquil tide
  • other - Stampin' Blends, MFT Hog Heaven dies, Big Shot, Dimensionals, Hip Hello die (Poppystamps)

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

I Heart You

I woke up yesterday morning with an idea for a Valentine's Day card in my head, so naturally I had to try it out to see if my vision would work. And while it's by no means a Work of Art, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Take a lookie:



I did the texture paste hearts first then assembled the rest while I waited for it to dry, and because I had it all mapped out in my head, this card took probably no more than 15 minutes to make. Some retired product used - ie the papers and the triple heart punch - along with the gorgeous new Celebrate You thinlit and Amazing You stamps. This is the best option in the SAB offering, in my opinion. So versatile.

Materials used:

  • stamps - Amazing You
  • card - melon mambo, whisper white, basic black, retired DSP
  • other - stitched circle die, Celebrate You die, Big Shot, triple heart punch, Dimensionals, texture paste, distressing tool

There's a little more decoration on the inside too:


That's it! Happy Valentine's Day to you all and thanks for calling in today.

Cheers
Kez

Monday, February 12, 2018

Mellow Yellow

The cards we're making in class this week all feature yellow - and why not? It's summer and, let's face it, daffodil delight and crushed curry are great colours.

Here's some daffodil paired with Pacific point. This was inspired by a Leonie Schroder creation, which I turned into an easel card.




Materials used:
  • stamps - Bird Banter
  • card - Pacific point, basic black, whisper white, watercolour, cucumber crush
  • other - beautiful branches thinlits, Big Shot, aqua painter, Dimensionals, stitched rectangle die

A simple lever card makes an ideal showcase for the Picture Perfect Birthday set, here paired with retired papers.



Materials used:
  • stamps - Picture Perfect Birthday
  • card - basic black, whisper white, crushed curry, It's My Party dsp
  • other - stitched square framelits, Big Shot, Dimensionals

For our last card we're using a lovely bundle from the second-release SAB catalogue which includes a stamp set and deep embossing folder. Knowing how much I love colouring, it will come as no surprise to you that I pre-ordered this one! I stamped the basket using basic grey ink, then over-stamped with Versamark and added clear embossing powder. Colouring was done with daffodil delight, pumpkin pie, old olive and crumb cake Stampin' Blends.


Materials used:
  • stamps - Blossoming Basket, Tabs for Everything
  • card - daffodil delight, smoky slate, whisper white
  • other - basket weave embossing folder, Big Shot, Stampin' Blends, clear embossing powder, heat tool, jewellery tag punch (retired), linen thread, Dimensionals, paper piercer

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez

Thursday, February 8, 2018

Classy Gents

Today I really enjoyed making up some masculine cards for my stash, using one of my all-time favourite elegant colour combos of vanilla and black. SU's Truly Tailored stamp set dovetails perfectly with older SU punches and dies, plus some other dies I bought on eBay.




Materials used:

  • stamps - Truly Tailored
  • card - basic black, very vanilla
  • other - masculine dies (brand unknown), tailored tag punch, moustache die, bow builder punch, large black rhinestones (non SU)

The one with the bow tie makes me think how sumptuous men look in a tux - am I right, ladies?


Thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

The Yeast Likely

With two Kiwis and two Aussies in our family, the (mostly) good-natured rivalry between the two countries and their 'inventions' has always been a source of amusement and frustration. Pavlova, of course, is a hotly contended one.

One that hasn't ever been an issue - mainly because DH (in most un-Aussie-like fashion) hates both (in fact he calls them Black Death, lol) - is the argument between Marmite (Kiwi) or Vegemite (Aussie). Growing up in New Zealand, I always had Marmite, which is made from a slightly different recipe to the original UK version. Sources tell me it has been produced in NZ since 1919, whereas Vegemite was not developed in Australia until 1922 (as a result of a post-war shortage of the UK Marmite) and not marketed until the following year.

Yes! Kiwis for the win! They are, of course, very similar products, though I personally find Vegemite much saltier and more bitter.


Anyway, for this year's Waitangi Day card (ie New Zealand Day), DD19 suggested a Marmite card, and I thought that would be a bit of a laugh. I've put my own spin on it, naturally.




Luckily I don't have to mail this, as it stands 18cm tall and is too big for a regular sized envelope!

Materials used:
  • card - basic black, real red, daffodil delight, acetate
  • other - alphabet dies (non SU), Big Shot, large jar die (non SU), corner rounder punch, crimper, computer and printer

This version of Marmite is made solely for the Australasian market in my home town of Christchurch. In November 2011 the factory received some damage from the terrible earthquake that struck Christchurch and production was halted for a few months - causing a nationwide shortage and apparently even a Black Market for Marmite! Luckily, I buy a few jars at a time, so we managed to survive the shortage until my favourite spread was back on the supermarket shelves. Phew!

Hope you're having a happy Marmite Day wherever you are. Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez