Friday, December 31, 2010

The Year in Review

I've seen on a number of blogs where folks review their favourite cards from each month of the year as a kind of yearly round-up and thought that might be a fun thing to do. If nothing else, it would show me whether I've made any improvement over the past 12 months! LOL!

From January a Parisian combo of black, red and white is still a favourite. The card that began it all is this one:


In February this simple crayon-resist card was a big hit with all my customers and I love the colour combination of yellow, purple and green:


Along came March and our SU team had a blog hop to showcase the Autumn/Winter mini catalogue. This brayered silhouette card is still high on my favourites list:

April is a tough month to pick from! But I'm giving it to my first easel drawer calendar using Autumn tones:


For May there is absolutely no contest - this card that won the JAI challenge is still one I adore and won't give up!


June was a real butterfly month for me and this engagement/wedding/anniversary card is my pick of the bunch:


A floral beauty I made while away at stamp camp is my pick for July:


August saw another team blog hop for the new catalogue and another brayered card is in my favourites:


September is a really tough month to pick from, with 3 cards vying for top honours. But I think first place will have to go to those cute little owls in their medical outfits:


And the owls steal it again for me in October in their wedding finery:


There were plenty of owls to choose from in November, but my heart belongs to this jelly bean card I made for my daughter:


And last but not least, my pick for December. For me, it has to be the decorated glass bauble - every time I see it, it evokes one of the things high on my bucket list, which is to experience a white Christmas.


Wow! This review really brings back so many happy memories! I'm glad I took this journey back through the last 12 months and I hope you have enjoyed it too.

Thanks for continuing to stop by and I look forward to "seeing" you in the new year!

Cheers
Kez

Thursday, December 30, 2010

I'm Stylish?

I received the following award yesterday from the lovely Andrea L over at EnchantInk - thanks sooooo much Andrea, it means a lot to receive this from someone so talented.


The conditions that go with the award are that I:
  • thank and link the person who gave it to me (done)
  • share 8 things about myself (oh dear, boooooorrring!)
  • pass it on to 8 others
  • let them know about the award
Hmmmm, so OK, 8 things about myself. 
  1. I am addicted to chocolate and coke zero (who isn't?)
  2. The only nuts I like are salted peanuts and cashews (and my DH! LOL!)
  3. I've been to Disneyland twice and would happily go again (inner child, you know!)
  4. I didn't get married until I was 29 and had my first child at 32 (if you can add, you'll know my age now ... ah well)
  5. I am and always have been totally useless at science and geography (yup, totally)
  6. I am long sighted and my right eye is 8 times more long sighted than my left (go figure)
  7. My favourite books are the Cross Stitch series by Diana Gabaldon (read them all heaps of times)
  8. I used to teach typing in the days when we still used manual typewriters (many of you will not even know what those are .... )
Now to pass this award on, I am happy to nominate:
Lovely ladies all, with talents in so many areas. Please visit them and enjoy their creations.

Thanks again Andrea and have a lovely day everyone. I'll be back tomorrow with a year of cards in review!

Cheers
Kez

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Ooh, Baby, Baby!

Yup, babies are the focus of today's projects. I snapped up the Baby Bundle set in the December Frenzy (how could I not?!!) and have been having so much fun making cute little baby cards using the set and the matching wheel, Baby Tees.

A boy card firstly and I cut two sets of alphabet die letters to create a shadow effect.


I start singing "Rubber ducky, you're the one" in my head every time I see this next one ...


I love classic navy, red and white at any time, even for babies. I always wanted one of those elegant navy prams but never got one ... maybe as a nana! LOL! (No pressure girls!)


Makes me feel all clucky again ... sshhhh! don't tell DD18 - she wants another sister! LOL!

Cheers
Kez

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Resolutionary

Most of the time I don't bother making New Year's resolutions because it doesn't take long before they're out the window! However, this year I thought I would make a craft resolution - to take part in more challenges. They stretch you creatively and of course can be lots of fun!

So in that spirit - and although it isn't yet the new year, but you know, begin as you mean to go on - here's my entry for the current challenge over at Just Add Ink. It's a sketch challenge this time around - here's the sketch:


The large round scallops made me think of wheels and as I've been in baby card mode lately (more on that tomorrow), this is what I came up with:



DD18 calls it my PacMan Pram card! LOL!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

It Has Taken Me A While ...

... to get these photos taken and posted!

Here are some cards I made a couple of weeks back. The first two use On a Pedestal, which is quite a different stamp style to my usual but I like the way the images and sentiments stack and match. Mind you, my purchase was influenced by DH loving a sample of this I brought home from stamp camp - that's a first! LOL!


Love the colour combo here of rich razzleberry, marina mist and pear pizzazz.

The second one is more masculine colours of cajun craze, marina mist and garden green. The background stamp (from level 1 hostess set Afterthoughts) says 'Happy Birthday. Call when it's time for cake' which I thought fitted perfectly!


Then I got to playing with Aviary from the Summer mini. I just adore this set and love all the great samples I have seen on blogs everywhere. My first is a simple design and I've added a touch of bling to each birdcage - but it doesn't show in this small sized version of the photo! (click to enlarge if you want to see the bling)


Secondly some pear pizzazz, poppy parade and concord crush (all in colours) with my fav embossing folder of the moment, square lattice.


The next card we made in classes last week and lo and behold! it's the square lattice again with some more marina mist and rich razzleberry, this time with a touch of daffodil delight.


And lastly a Christmas card cased from the talented Lisa Young. Lisa used the music wheel on her background paper, but I don't have that so I have embossed it instead with a non SU music notes embossing folder. LOVE the cherry cobbler!!!


Thanks for stopping by and as this is most likely my last post before Christmas, I'd like to wish you all a joyous festive season filled with all the people and things you love the most. If you are travelling, stay safe and take care.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Cheers
Kez

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Elves and Reindeer

Hi all! Here I am still preparing for Christmas and today I made up some lolly tubes for stocking fillers.

Firstly some Xmas coloured jelly beans with elf toppers. I made each one slightly different and coloured with markers in real red and green galore (retired - but match jelly beans!).



Then some "reindeer noses" (aka Jaffas) - so cute! The reindeer toppers are made from the owl punch, snowflake die (non SU) and 1/2" circle punch. I added some crystal effects on the noses (not quite dry in my photo!) to give them some dimension and shine.



Back soon with more Xmas preparations; hope yours are going well.

Cheers
Kez

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Did You Know?


Did you know that Stampin' Up! have a YouTube channel and you can watch videos on how to use their great products? The one above shows you how to use the new style punches, but there are others you may be interested in, as well as videos made by SU demos.

Why not visit and see if there is a video for something you have been longing to learn?

Cheers
Kez

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Robins and Gingerbread Men

This is the Christmas card I made for my customers this year. I have been so busy with classes that I had to sit down at the last minute and make them all in one go! So it had to be a relatively easy design but something that they hadn't seen already in classes or here on my blog.

It's been a while since I used my bird punch (he's getting jealous at all the attention the owl punch is getting, LOL!) but I think it makes a gorgeous Robin Red Breast here.


Not the best photo I'm afraid - I forgot to take one before I put them all in envelopes, so had to snap this one at the restaurant where we had our Christmas get together! It does look much better IRL.

We all wore something Christmassy on our heads to the dinner, so I'll share with you how crazy I looked in my selection, seen here with Lynne. We were voted the best two!


Saw these glasses at our Reject Shop and couldn't resist them! Lynne's Xmas lights necklace lit up, so she was flashing all night. It was loads of fun and I'm looking forward to another great year of crafting with all my lovely ladies.

Back soon with some non-Christmas goodies! Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Mini Milk Carton Carrier

A few people have asked, so this is where I got the instructions for the mini milk carton carriers in my blog post yesterday. These instructions are for both the two-box and four-box holder.

www.stampingpro.com

Click on the Instruction Sheets tab at the top, then scroll down the list to Milk Carton Holder.

Check out Chiaki's other fantastic things while you are there!

Cheers
Kez

Monday, December 6, 2010

Boxes and Bags


I have a class tonight making Christmas Gift Boxes and Bags, so I've been busy as a beaver making up samples to show just a few of the lovely things you can make. We won't be making all of these, but they are great for inspiration. Some of these are things that have been on my "Must Do" list for quite some time, so it's been great to finally get around to trying them!

One that I've been meaning to do for while is a Fantasy or Stepper box, so here's my first attempt. Much easier than it looks, luckily!


I also made an acetate box at last, which unfortunately was NOT easier than it looks - in fact I found it quite fiddly, so although it looks good, it won't be on the list for my class to make!


The Haute Tote bag we made for Mother's Day looks terrific in Kerry Cobbler Xmas paper.

One thing I had to try out is a carrier for the mini milk cartons - soooo cute! Love these little cartons! You can do a two or a four!



The Xmas Stocking box always looks good and especially in this year's papers:


Of course a gift card holder never goes astray and this is a different one to what I've used before. I dragged out some retired Purely Pomegranate card and papers and they look gorgeous with the crochet trim.


The old bag in a box (or is it box in a bag?) is a firm favourite - so simple to make and you can vary the size up or down.


Box #2 is terrific for little things and you can join two together to make a little carrier too:



And of course you can just do regular boxes in many variations to suit your needs:



Hope you're having fun making your own gift containers for pressies - if you'd like me to bring this class to your place, just let me know. Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Kerry Cobbler goodies!

Hi all! Well, last post I showed you the things I had made for my Secret Santa recipient, so today here are the things that I received from my SS. I had asked for anything Cherry Cobbler, cos as you know I am ever-so-slightly keen on this GOR-JUS colour! In fact, some of my friends reckon we should rename it Kerry Cobbler!!!! ROFLOL!

So my SS - who turned out to be Katie - stepped up to the plate and cleverly wrapped and packaged a number of KC items. She even used lots of KC for wrapping, bless her! Here they are:

Some Kerry Cobbler cardstock and a lovely box that houses a KC marker:


The small box has a KC re-inker inside, there are Regals brads (including KC of course!) and the clever girl even managed to find some KC M&Ms!!!! LOL!


Aren't I a lucky girl? Lots of KC goodies to keep my fix going for a while! Thanks, Katie, I will have LOTS of fun using these beauties!

I'll be back tomorrow with some gift boxes and bags. Stay sane till then!!!

Cheers
Kez

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Secret Santa

Our SU team has a Christmas dinner every year and we all get allocated a person to be Secret Santa for. We don't spend a lot on gifts, but most of the fun is in the packaging and wrapping and making the present look totally gorgeous.

I was SS for Rachel and these are the gifts I made for her:


Here are the packets individually:

The decorated glass bauble from yesterday's post


A box containing gift tags


A container of Smooch Spritz (looks like a Toblerone!)


Some Xmas ribbons in a small window box


A mini bag in a box with shimmer paint inside


Three spray bottles to use for water or shimmer paint


Tubes filled with antique brads, brads and label holders from hodgepodge hardware and Christmas coloured jelly beans and I made a box to store them in.



Phew! So many photos - I'll have to come back another day to show you the beautiful things my SS gave me!

Have a great day.

Cheers
Kez