It’s beginning to look a lot like….

Christmas! Already?! Yep! I’ve been making Christmas cards with some of my SAS groups since July! LOL! And so, of course, when I went to design a swap for the Adelaide Stampin’ Up! Regionals day on Saturday, I couldn’t think of anything else other than a Christmas Card to design

I adapted a technique I found on www.splitcoaststampers.com called Vitalised Vellum. It’s where you apply ink to the vellum and then use a clean bold stamp to ‘remove’ the ink from the vellum (cleaning between each impression) so you end up with almost a reversed image IYKWIM? I used my brayer to apply the ink to the vellum before stamping it off. Then I let the vellum dry overnight, stamped the same image on the same side of the vellum in Gold Encore Ink and let dry overnight again!

It was a nice way to create my own kind of patterned paper and seemed to be appreciated by all those I swapped with Thankyou if you are reading this and I swapped with you! I have LOTS of lovely swaps in return and I’m sure some of you will see them when you come to my classes or workshops.

And, of course, with Christmas approaching, Stampin’ Up! has a fabulous new special for you that will run from 1st November to 15th December!

If you spend $85  or more (RRP) on products from this gift giving guide you will receive a free Scallop Square Punch! (valued at $30.95 RRP!) You can even earn more than one Scallop Square punch if you spend more than one lot of $85 - perfect gift for your stamping buddy so you don’t have to worry about lending yours out!! LOL! Over the next week or so I’ll be back with some ideas for how to use some of the products in the guide to give you some ideas for Christmas presents, because you don’t necessarily have to buy these products to give away…. you can buy them to make your gifts and cards!

Please contact me if you’d like to place an order or find out more! Cheers, K

Feeling Green!

Why is it that the minute I typed that title I had the image of Kermit the Frog in my head?! You know, the song Rainbow Connection? Where Kermit sits on a log and plays his ukelele while singing? I could almost hear that little frogs voice singing away! Strange how the mind brings back those memories!

…. and back to the original reason for my post title! LOL! I was using up some bits and bobs the other week and (of course) had a lot of green cardstock out. So, I made this ‘green’ card for my friend and downline, Alison.

I used Kiwi Kiss and Very Vanilla cardstock, Urban Garden DSP, Kiwi Kiss Satin Ribbon (the reverse side has Very Vanilla – it’s just gorgeous!) and the Trendy Trees Stamp set. I tried a bit of ‘rock’n'roll’ing on my tree leaves by inking the stamp up with Kiwi Kiss ink first then rolling the edges on an Old Olive inkpad to add some darker colour, but I think I ‘rolled’ more than I ‘rocked’ becuase I didn’t get much definition between the 2 colours! I also used one of the other tree stamps to add the spirals on the top right corner of the card base.

So there, you go, it’s a ‘green’ card and a tree friendly one, at that!! LOL!

Bye for now! K

Some new links…

These are long overdue, but I finally added them and just wanted to introduce you to …….

Laura Burns…. a fellow SU! demo who I met at Regionals last year and then she took a chance on me and invited me to help out on the stall at the Salisbury Craft Fair and the rest is history as they say – she literally can’t get rid of me now!! LOL!!! Anyway, Laura and I have shared a couple of events so far and have more planned in the pipeline – we just need to stop chattering about anything and everything and get on with the actual planning!! *giggle* It helps that we both have little boys named Aidan – well, mine is ‘Aidan’ and Laura’s is ‘Aiden’, but it sounds the same!! Anyway, you can visit the talented Laura here http://burnsinklings.blogspot.com/

And now, someone who I really should have introduced before now, is Katy Catford! Katy joined me last year and is both a lovely friend and talented stamper! During my blog exile of the last few months I haven’t been visiting many blogs but I’ve been trying to catch up and have found some gorgeous projects on Katy’s blog here http://www.katyscardsandscrapbooking.blogspot.com/ - love the Tree Trimmings card you showed in September Katy! Katy also has a daughter around the same age as my son, so we understand the demands these children place on us as mums …. and the need for a creative outlet to save our sanity!!!

So that’s today’s post for you – go check these girls out and you’ll see some lovely ideas!! Bye! K

And then Challenge 4?!

Hmmm, yes I know you’re all thinking “her brain has turned to mush with all those pregnancy hormones!” but no, I cheated and skipped Challenge 3! Challenge 3 was a lovely 3D watering can,that you can see on www.splitcoaststampers.com this week, but I just couldn’t bring myself to attempt it at the time! LOL!

Challenge 4, however, was a Sketch challenge and I felt that I could turn that into a card reasonably quickly and without tooooo much effort! What do you think?

I’ve used Pretty in Pink for the base, then some Bella Rose DSP, textured Red Riding Hood cardstock and then used Whisper White for the stamping. The cupcake, candle and quote are from the Party Hearty stamp set and I used Riding Hood Red, Pretty in Pink and a tiny bit of Yoyo Yellow inks to stamp. I’ve also added Dazzling Diamonds to the frosting on the cupcake with my 2-way glue pen – gotta have some sparkle!!

The Pink Pirouette felt flowers are fastened with a red rhinestone brad and then I was a little stumped about what to put in the bottom right hand corner. The sketch suggested 3 ’somethings’ in a row, but I didn’t have anything that looked right or was in the right colour…. hmmm….. well, then I thought of my Horizontal Slot punch …… I punched 3 of those shapes from my textured Riding Hood Red cardstock, used my 2-way glue pen to adhere them…. and that suited the space nicely!

So there you go – that’s how I spent my Saturday night! I hope you have a chance to visit some of the other participants blogs from Jayne’s fundraiser, there’s some gorgeous work out there! Just go to www.jaynemercer.com/blogs and follow the links to check out the creations or make a donation!

I’ll be back again soon with some more of what I’ve been creating! K

Challenge 2 …..

Challenge 2 was to create a card or project using pink, black and white. I went for a card because I was struggling a bit for  inspiration to put something 3D  or layout-like together. However, I was a bit stuck on what stampset to use…… until I saw the stamp set I borrowed from my lovely friend Laura the other day!!! Thanks Laura!!!

So, I stamped the Bloomin’ with Beauty flower in Stazon and watercoloured it with Regal Rose and Pretty in Pink – a touch of Rose Red in the centre of the flower. This was layered onto reverse scallop edged Black cardstock (see info on scalloped edge below!) and then onto Pretty in Pink cardstock with dimensionals. That layer then went onto more black, then a Pink Pirouette base card.

I created the reverse scallop edge on the black cardstock by punching my 1/4″ circle punch halfway in from the edge of the cardstock at 1/2″ intervals. I just thought it would give it a different look to a ‘normal’ scalloped edge – what do you think?

Stay tuned for another challenge pic soon!

Back again!

See, you’ve been missing me for so long and now you’ll be sick of me by the end of the week!! LOL!

In this post I will show you a picture of a card I made for Jayne’s Girls Night In Fundraiser – visit www.jaynemercer.com/blogs to find out more about how to donate and take part!

The first Challenge was to find a card in the catalogue and create it again in PINK! Of course Pink was the theme for the night as Jayne was raising money to help the fight against Breast Cancer.  So I picked a card on Page 107 using Boho Backgrounds and created it using Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, Pink Pirouette DSP, Regal Rose Ink, a Pink Pirouette Felt Flower and a Pink circle rhinestone brad. There’s a touch of white ribbon in there and a couple of white pearls, but it’s very PINK – especially for a non-pink girl like me!!!

Check back again later and I’ll post the picture of Challenge 2! K

…. can it really be true?

Gasp! Yes, it is true! I’m here typing a post on my blog….. 3 months later!!!! My gosh! I really can’t believe it has been that long, but then I have been busy and I have managed to cram a lot into those 3 months so I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised – just a tiny bit embarrassed!

Anyway, how are you? Thankyou to those of you who have patiently been visiting me here week in and week out waiting for me to post something new! I appreciate your visits and messages along the way. ….. On to how am I? ….. well, since July we have moved house, sold a block of land, almost finalised the sale of our unit, got the 3 year old sleeping in a big boy bed, enrolled in kindy for next year and are slowly getting him toilet trained……….. oh …..  and I’ve been growing a baby!! Yep, I’m now 7 months pregnant and expecting a new baby just in time for Christmas (and not a day later, let me tell you!!!) So there you go! Not great excuses separately but altogether they have made the last few months a bit crazy/hectic/chaotic and lots of other things in between!

Now with the new house, of course one of my requirements when shopping was a room for all my stamping and craft stuff!! LOL! So it’s a Study/Craft room but Owen really doesn’t get much of a look in! He doesn’t mind too much as he now has 2 sheds and his computer is down the other end of the house so when the new lounge arrives he’ll make himself comfy down there using his computer and we won’t bother each other at all!!! LOL! Back to my room…. it’s not fully set up yet, but getting there and on the October long weekend we went and bought a desk for me to stamp on and it has been lovely to be able to unpack my stamping stuff and start creating again. It’s amazing how much you miss that creativity mentally and emotionally when you don’t get that time and space to create. Plus after 9 years of using the kitchen bench or dining table to stamp/sew/tile/quilt and any other craft technique I tried out, it is nice to have a room to confine the mess too – of course a messy desk is a sign of a creative mind – or so they say?!

I’m going to leave you with a picture of the bags/boxes we made today at my Christmas Container Class and I PROMISE I will be back over the next few days to show you more of the creations I have been working on in my new room!!! So please visit again soon! K xx

PS If you would like some stamping inspiration this weekend and a chance to support a good cause, head to www.jaynemercer.com/blogs and take part in Jayne’s Girls Night In fundraiser. She has some gorgeous challenges posted and I’ve been having a go myself  (will post pictures tomorrow) – plus it’s a great cause to support! K

Stamp Sale!

I’ve updated my Stamps for Sale page after selling some sets off lately! Don’t forget to check it out here in case you spot a bargain or a retired set you really wanted but missed out on

And of course… guess what is coming up next month? Here’s a sneak peak at a card using a stamp from the new mini! Be sure to contact me if you’d like a copy sent out to you ready for August 1st!

Can you pick the new stamp? …. I’ll leave you guessing for now K

Sketch Challenge

Lats month I challenged the members of my Stamp Club to a sketch Challenge and I thought I’d share my attempt!

The sketch was from here and I’d love to see any layouts you come up with using the same sketch!

Bye fo rnow! K

Cards for Charity photo!

Sorry I haven’t been back for so long! Here is a picture of some of the cards as I was packing them up to send off….

More soon! K