Thursday, February 23, 2017

Sale-a-brating

At our next class we're using Sale-a-bration freebies.

Occasionally I make a card I love so much I don't want to give it away - not to anyone. Today's first card is such a one; it just makes me feel happy every time I look at it, so why would I want to lose that? Of course, it's a nice feeling to give to someone else, so I can see I'm just going to have make more of these!

Here tis:

I guess some of my enthusiasm is because we have chickens - the puffy-headed type like the lady at the back - so I can relate to these gals. The bright cheerful colours help too. The gals were coloured using SU's new watercolour pencils and I got the colour scheme from casing Juana Ambida. For the grass I did a watercolour wash first using old olive ink, then once it was dry, overstamped using a grass stamp. The chickens were all stamped and coloured on watercolour paper then cut out individually and added afterwards, though you could use the masking technique too. On my daffodil delight base card I sponged sun rays using crushed curry ink and it lifted the plain background so much I was thrilled with the result.

Materials used:

  • stamps - Hey Chick, Thoughtful Branches
  • card - daffodil delight, watercolour, Bermuda bay, basic black
  • other - large oval and scalloped oval punches, Dimensionals, watercolour pencils, aquapainter, MFT stencil, sponge dauber

Ever since I got the Tasty Trucks stamp set I've been dying to make a fun card, so I finally got around to it. My ladies know I love puns (I crack them quite often in class), so I was virtually compelled to use the taco theme for the punny sentiment alone! I basically cased a card by Lyssa Zwolanek, but added a couple of twists of my own - the zig zag embossing and 3D elements (the truck is in three layers). 


Materials used:
  • stamps - Tasty Trucks
  • card - Pacific point, melon mambo, daffodil delight, watercolour
  • other - pumpkin pie grosgrain ribbon (retired), watercolour pencils, aquapainter, Dimensionals, chevron embossing folder (retired), Big Shot, mini glue dot, candy dots, foam adhesive strips

And last but by no means least, we'll be making a card using the Inside the Pages designer series paper. When I first saw these in the SAB leaflet I glossed right over them - until I started seeing some beautiful images showing up on Pinterest and wondered where they'd come from! I should have known SU wouldn't fail to amaze me.


Materials used:
  • card - Inside the Pages dsp, basic black, flirty flamingo
  • other - ink pads, aquapainter, Dimensionals, markers, Wink of Stella

Hopefully my ladies will love these as much as I do.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Last But Not Least

Phew! There's a whole lotta posts today! But I've been catching up on photographing all the cards I've made in the past two weeks, feeling guilty because people keep asking for them! So here is my final batch - no new stuff, just playing with colour and ideas.


Materials used:

  • stamps - Weather Together
  • card - basic grey, whisper white, daffodil delight, brights patterned paper stack, white glitter
  • other - umbrella dies, Big Shot, dimensionals

The challenge on this one was sticking those sparkly raindrops on individually!


It's fun to have another play with this great bundle and hopefully give my ladies some ideas. 

Materials used:
  • stamps - Beautiful You, Thoughtful Branches
  • card - smoky slate, whisper white, neutrals patterned paper
  • other - branches dies, Big Shot, dimensionals

For this last card it's actually been some time since I made it, but as I hadn't gotten around to showing it to you, I'll pop it in. 



Materials used:
  • stamps - Baby Bear
  • card - sweet sugarplum, whisper white, in colour patterned paper, tip top taupe
  • other - stitched framelits, Big Shot, dimensionals

Well, that's it, I'm all caught up. Hope you enjoy wandering through all the posts today and my feast of cards.

Cheers
Kez

Nothing But Hot Air

My friend Rob loaned me her Lift Me Up bundle from the new Occasions catalogue to have a play with, so here are the cards I created.


Materials used:

  • stamps - Lift Me Up
  • card - soft sky, tip top taupe, so saffron, whisper white, sweet sugarplum, soft sky patterned paper
  • other - Up & Away thinlits, Big Shot, dimensionals, glue pen

Materials used:
  • stamps - Lift Me Up, Balloon Adventures
  • card - tip top taupe, soft sky, whisper white, so saffron
  • other - starburst die, Up & Away thinlits, Big Shot, dimensionals, rhinestones, sponge dauber

Hope you like them. Thanks for calling in.

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

Beautiful You

One of the stamp sets that appealed to me most in the new Occasions catty is a simple, pencil-line sketch set called Beautiful You. It reminds me a lot of a set we had years ago called Seaside Sketches, and it has the same evocative imagery that really calls to me. So naturally it was in my pre-order and yesterday I made my first couple of cards with it.

Firstly some fun with the new watercolour pencils and a colour combination that until a few years ago I never would have thought of combining.


Materials used:
  • stamps - Beautiful You
  • card - rose red, pumpkin pie, watercolour
  • other - watercolour pencils, aqua painter

The second image is to me very reminiscent of Audrey Hepburn's iconic pose from Breakfast at Tiffany's, so I wanted to colour the dress black. Melon mambo has come to the fore again as the contrast and this time I've put the sentiment inside - it reads 'Life looks beautiful on you' so is great for birthdays.


Materials used:
  • stamps - Beautiful You
  • card - basic black, melon mambo, watercolour, retired dsp, whisper white
  • other - layering ovals framelits, Big Shot, dimensionals, watercolour pencils, aqua painter

I'm having such fun playing with new product - more coming again soon. Thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez

Party, Party, Party

The plethora of balloon stamp sets we've had in recent SU catalogues are just great for birthdays no matter the age or gender, so I've made a point of hanging on to retiring ones (dies included) as they can often be used in conjunction with sets as they come along. Today's card samples are a case in point.

I was dying to try out the new balloon pop-up die - which, I am happy to report, was very easy to use and accessorise. Once the inside of my card was decorated, I had to drum up something for the front, so I dug out an old balloon themed bundle and used stamps and dies from it to co-ordinate. The papers are also retired - I snaffled more of them up in the year-end sale.

Here's the front:



And the inside:


Materials used:
  • stamps - Balloon Adventures, Celebrate Today
  • card - basic black, mint macaron, whisper white, melon mambo, It's My Party DSP
  • other - balloon pop-up thinlits, balloon framelits, Big Shot, balloon punch, melon mambo bakers twine, dimensionals, MISTI

Now, who wouldn't be happy to get a birthday card like that?

Had a play making some more - again, this next one mixes the old with the new.


Materials used:
  • stamps - Balloon Adventures, Balloon Celebration
  • card - Bermuda bay, whisper white, calypso coral, night of navy, gold foil, retired dsp
  • other - balloon punch, balloon pop-up thinlits, Big Shot, gold embossing powder, heat tool, dimensionals

And lastly a softer colouring using the centre of the pop-up die piece.



Materials used:
  • stamps - Balloon Adventures
  • card - Bermuda bay, crumb cake, very vanilla, Cupcakes & Carousels DSP
  • inks - Bermuda bay, calypso coral, so saffron, peekaboo peach, crumb cake
  • other - balloon punch, balloon pop-up thinlits, Big Shot, Dimensionals, crumb cake marker, blender pen, sponge dauber


Thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez

Pride and Prejudice

It is a truth universally acknowledged that stampers love playing with new product. Am I right? Yes, I am.

With my visitors gone (sad face), the silver lining was that my craft room was my own once again, and that meant PLAY TIME! The goodies I'd pre-ordered from the Occasions Catalogue were taunting me from the shelves so it was time to settle down and get serious with ink.

And you know how I love to get inky. Oh yeah. The new Dragonfly Dreams bundle gave me just the opportunity to get messily creative - so yes, I am happy to admit, my fingers are all shades of grubby right now! But. I. Don't. Care.

As usual, I found some inspiration from Pinterest, and also - unusually - from the Occasions catty itself. Here's my first effort, some Bokeh effect with gold and purples. So rich and glamorous! A whispery trail of dragonfly sparkle ties the two gold elements together and gives the card movement.



Materials used:
  • stamps - Butterfly Basics, Dragonfly Dreams
  • card - whisper white, blackberry bliss, gold foil
  • inks - rich razzleberry, blackberry bliss, whisper white, Versamark
  • other - gold embossing powder, heat tool, dragonfly thinlits, cirlce punches and dies, sponges, Wink of Stella, dimensionals, Big Shot, die brush

The card in the Occasions catty I based my next sample on used some of the lovely new papers, but there's not enough of it in a pack for me to use with classes, so I had to improvise and create my own. 


I began with a piece of very vanilla and stamped En Francais using crumb cake ink, then sponged it unevenly (yes, on purpose) with so saffron. Next some Bermuda bay sponging of a diamond stencil - not SU, unfortunately, as they don't have this shape (yet) - and the 'dots' of hello honey. The edges were given a deep sponge with crumb cake, then a light edging with early espresso for more depth. The dragonfly (stamped in early espresso) has hints of saffron and Bermuda on its wings, which also glitter with Wink of Stella. The sentiment is stamped on vellum. Et voila! 

Materials used:
  • stamps - Dragonfly Dreams, En Francais (retired)
  • card - Bermuda bay, very vanilla, vellum
  • inks - crumb cake, so saffron, Bermuda bay, hello honey, early espresso, StazOn timber brown
  • other - sponges, Tim Holtz stencil, dragonfly thinlits, Wink of Stella, dimensionals, spray adhesive, Big Shot

Sometimes, of course, simple is best, as you can see in my next card, inspired by a creation from a UK demo called Kim that I found on Pinterest. To get my sentiment dark enough but still use the matching ink, I used my MISTI and stamped it three times.


Materials used:
  • stamps - Thoughtful Branches, Canvas (retired)
  • card - Sahara sand, dazzling diamonds glimmer, Falling in Love DSP
  • inks - Sahara sand
  • other - dragonfly thinlits, layering ovals framelits, Big Shot, MISTI, sponge dauber, dimensionals, die brush

Okay, time to go back for some more playing. Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez