Helloooo, anyone out there? Yes, it's me!

You can tell how long it is since I last posted, Blogger have gone and changed everything!!

 I stopped being a Stampin' Up demonstrator last year to start a new venture, which, sadly, did not work out how I had hoped. Since then I have finally had an operation on my eye to sort out all the problems I had. Unfortunately, I think the surgeon also took out my mojo because I have been looking for it for a long time now and it's no where to be found! Well, until recently that is...

So, I am still here working on my mojo quietly in the background still attempting to make stuff, some with paper, some with fabric, and I decided to post a few of my attempts here to see if it would give me a bit of a kick-start.

I have been crafting recently with my ex-Stampin' Up upline Helen and her fellow demonstrators Alison and Donna. Today I sat with Donna at her craft table and made 3 cards - 3 CARDS, who'd have thought it? This is the first one...

and the second

and the third, my favourite

I would have posted these sooner but Blogger wouldn't let me upload my pictures. All fixed now - woohoo!!
Take care
Kelly x

Kimono Kids

This is my effort at a Bendy Card!! I made this before getting an excellent tutorial from Emma Fewkes (Lady and the Stamp), wish I had waited as her version is soooo much simpler!!

I am not going to even try to explain how I made it because I made a really hard job of something so simple, but will give you a list of products I used.

The cardstock, ink and marker colours are Baja Breeze, Early Espresso, Pink Pirouette and Whisper White. I used some Early Espresso satin ribbon to hold it all together!. The stamp set is the gorgeous Kimono Kids and the rub-ons are Hidden Garden - all from Stampin' Up!.

Take care until next time ....

Kelly

Bye, bye, Bliss

Sigh ..... I love Bliss (the Sale-A-Bration stamp set that we have all gone mad for). I just thought I would show you my favourite projects using this gorgeous stamp set that as of tomorrow will be no longer available as Sale-A-Bration will end tonight.



BUT ..... starting tomorrow Stampin' Up! have ANOTHER offer to tempt us. Not free stamps this time, but up to 30% off certain products!! Check the Stampin' Up! website tomorrow for some bargains!!


All items Stampin' Up!
Inspiration for these projects came from Monica Gale's blog My Many Many Passions.

Take care until next time ........

Kelly

Bad blogger, sorry!!

I have been MIA recently, and for that I apologise! Since January I have been working at my daughter's school and I am really enjoying it!

I have been doing a little bit of craft so will post my projects over the next few days, including the card I made for my husband for Valentine's Day. I also demo'd this card at a meeting of local Stampin' Up Demonstrators.



The base card is a 14cm square of Basic Black CS with an apperture cut out using a Nestability. I cut out 2cm strips of Love Letters DSP and over-lapped them on the back of the apperture to create an iris-folded look. Using the same Nestability die I cut a frame from Riding Hood Red CS and wrapped a piece of Basic Black Taffeta ribbon around it. Attached to the ribbon is a couple of Tiny Tags and the key stamp from Artistic Etchings stamp set.

My husband loved it!

All items Stampin' Up!

Take care until next time ....

Kelly

Soft Suede Greenhouse Garden

Ooohh, I love this colour combination; Soft Suede, Early Espresso and Baha Breeze.



The card base is Soft Suede which has been stamped using the flower detail stamps from Greenhouse Garden in Soft Suede ink and then using the white gel pen I added highlights. I attached a strip of Early Espresso to a larger piece of Baha Breeze across the middle of the card and added the Thank You sentiment from Fresh Cuts which was stamped in Soft Suede ink and punched out using the modern label punch. The base flowers were stamped in Baha Breeze onto Whisper White and then the flower details stamped over the top in a combination of Soft Suede and Early Espresso. I added adhesive pearls to the centres of the flowers and on the label. Some of the flowers and the label were popped up on dimensionals.

Take care until next time ....

Kelly

Thanks For Everything

I think this twisted easel card is gorgeous! I know everyone is making them, but what the heck!!!

Again, I have used the wonderful 'In Colour' markers for this card. The base is Peach Parfait and the layers are Concord Crush and some Pear Pizazz DSP. The stamp set, For Everything, is fast becoming one of my favourites - I love building the flowers and the little butterfly is so cute! The leaves on the base of the card were punched from Pear Pizazz card using the Two-Step Bird punch. I also added some Stampin' Up! adhesive pearls on the flowers and butterfly.

Take care until next time ....

Kelly

Abi's Cat Card

My upline, Helen, showed me how to make this cat - isn't it cute??

My daughter's friend has recently had a birthday and this is the card I made her. The white card base is from my stash, the paper is Greenhouse Gala from Stampin' Up! as is the Pear Pizzazz and Pumpkin Pie card. I used an orange Stampin' Up! marker to make the kitty stripes and a black one for the eyes and whiskers. Her name was stamped using the Schoolbook Serif Alphabet stamp set with Pumpkin Pie ink - good job she only has a little name!!!

Take care until next time ....

Kelly

Punch Art Bird

I have seen several versions of this bird flying around blogland so I decided to have a go.



I think some of the best items in the Stampin' Up! catalogue are the punches. They are excellent quality, co-ordinate with some of the stamp sets, and, best of all, they punch through card.

The punches I have used are;
Ornament (body)
Boho Blossoms (eyelashes, hair, crown, feet)
Two-Step Bird (wings)
1 3/8" Circle (tummy, head)
3/4" Circle (eyes)
1/2" Circle (eyes)
1/4" Circle (eyes, sadly now retired)

The colours are Marina Mist, Bashful Blue, So Saffron and Basic Black. I sponged around the edges of the punched pieces with the same colour of ink to give some depth and the strips of black for the hair and legs were put through the crimper. Adding highlights with a white gel pen makes all the difference!

Take care until next time ...

Kelly

AAARRRGGGGHHH!!!! Pass the Rum ......

I love this 'Beware Pirates' stamp set - might have something to do with the fact that I think of Johnny Depp every time I use it!!



The inspiration for this card hit me one day when I had cut out a Cherry Cobbler card base the wrong size so the front panels 'bowed' out - "hmm" I thought "there are no mistakes in crafting" and decided to go with it!

The colours are Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black and Very Vanilla, and I used a scrap of the Newsprint DSP on the inside of the card.

Take care until next time ....

Kelly

Monkeying around!

This is my last project that I made at Alison's last week.

I chose the colours from the 'In Colour' range again as I think they are gorgeous!! The base card is Peach Parfait and along the bottom of the card I used the Solid Stripes stamp with Peach Parfait ink. I added a border punched strip of Pear Pizazz card across the card. The greeting is from the Heard From the Heart set stamped in Concord Crush onto Whisper White cardstock. I stamped the monkeys from Fox and Friends set using Peach Parfait, Pear Pizazz and Concord Crush onto a scrap of Whisper White and cut them out so I could 'pop' them up on dimensionals to look like they're hanging from the sentiment. I layered the image onto a piece of Concord Crush and added it to the front of the card.

Since making these cards I have received the 'In Colour' Designer Paper Pack - WOW, WOW!!! I love them even more!! It is such good value and is a perfect pack to split with a friend!

Funky Four

This is another project I made at Alison's (in between laughing and eating). I love these cute mushrooms!! Believe it or not, this is the first time I have used Stampin' Up! markers to colour a stamp!!

The card base is Early Espresso and the strip of DSP is from the Hostess Level 1 In Colour paper pack. I coloured the mushrooms directly on the stamp with the lovely In Colour markers, breathed on it and then stamped onto Whisper White cardstock - simples! The layers are Peach Parfait and Concorde Crush with a final layer of border punched Pear Pizazz. A knot of Early Espresso ribbon was tied around the image with a couple of Tiny Tags.

Cute!

Take care until next time ..........

Kelly

For Everything

After a few months of not doing a lot of crafting I have a few projects to show you. I spent the day with other local Stampin' Up! demonstrators for crafting, chatting, and, thanks to Alison, lots of eating!!!

Here's one project I managed to make!


The card base is Early Espresso with a strip of the Hostess Level 1 In Colour paper pack in Peach Parfait. The images are from the gorgeous For Everything stamp set on Whisper White and they are coloured with the In Colour markers using Peach Parfait, Concorde Crush and Pear Pizazz. This was then layered onto a piece of Concorde Crush with a strip of Pear Pizazz that I punched using a border punch. The greeting and butterfly were stamped onto Whisper White, but out and popped up with dimensionals.

Gorgeous colours and stamps!!

Happiness Shared

The photo does not show up the gorgeous colours on this card properly. I used Sahara Sand, Soft Suede and Blushing Bride (In Color) and the new stamp set Happiness Shared.

I stamped the greeting all over the Whisper White card using Sahara Sand ink and then layered it on some Soft Suede. The rose image was stamped in Soft Suede and, using a blender pen, coloured with Blushing Bride ink with a smidge of So Saffron in the centre. I then used the blender pen again to drag out the Soft Suede ink into the leaves and stems. The background on the card base is stamped with the small rose leaf from the set inked in Sahara Sand. A strip of gorgeous Blushing Bride DSP was attached across the middle of the card and the sentiment (from Fresh Cuts stamp set) stamped in Soft Suede.

Kimono Lanterns

I love this cute stamp set, Kimono Kids.



The colours are Baha Breeze, Pink Pirouette and Early Espresso. I popped up the middle lantern on a dimensional and added one of the phrases from Heard from the Heart stamp set. I also used a Whisper White rub-on from the Hidden Garden Blooms set onto the Baha Breeze card base. Lovely!!

Take care until next time ......

Kelly

Easy Christmas card

I recently took delivery of the new Stampin' Up! Ornament punch, the Hostess Level One pack of designer papers, and Heard from the Heart sentiment stamp set. I sat twiddling the other day and came up with this super-easy Christmas card.



The base card is one of the new In Colour's, Poppy Parade, with a layer of Early Espresso and Whisper White. I stamped the greeting onto the Whisper White with Early Espresso ink and stamped the string for the baubles (using the stamp from Tree Trimmings) hanging from the sentiment. Each bauble consists of three punched ornaments scored in half and glued together. I then stuck them under the bauble string.

I really love these designer papers in the new In Colours - think I will be making quite a few of these cards for Christmas.

Take care until next time......

Kelly

Should have gone to Specsavers .......

My eyes have had a 'Syndrome' for many years now, but recently have felt that they had got alot worse. To cut a long story short, I went to see my Optition who told me to cut right back on close work (craft), reading (my second favourite hobby), computer work (less surfing,) etc, and issued me with new glasses (bottle bottom lenses, very chic!) and a return appointment in six months.

So, as you can imagine, I am very disappointed. I really need to re-assess what I can and can't do and maybe make some difficult decisions. I have a few projects to post from before this happened, so will try and get them posted this week.

Take care until next time ........

Kelly

K & Co gift bags

I know, I know, it's another non-Stampin' Up! project - but, hang on, the cardstock is (Basic Black), the button is (Latte - retired) and so is the white gel pen I used for the faux stitching, so not as bad as you think!!

I took a whole pad of these papers to a sale I was involved in recently as I hadn't found any inspiration for them, they just sat in a drawer being gazed at and stroked (you know what I mean!). But, as I stood there watching people flick through the papers (and buying most of them) lots of projects using them kept whizzing around my head. The day after the sale I had to check how many of these were left, and to my huge relief there were just a few sitting in the bottom of a box.



These are coming with me to Leicester too, but, will I be able to part with them?

Take care until next time ....

Kelly

Newsprint U-Turn

I can hear my Stampin' Up! upline, Helen, chuckling away at this moment, and saying "I told you so!". When I first got my hands on the new Newsprint DSP I was very disappointed because I felt the images on the papers were too large for card making, and I just couldn't see how I was going to use it. How wrong I was ......

I have been covering little notebooks since a few years BSU (Before Stampin' Up!) and decided to take a deep breath and get out the Newsprint DSP. As Real Red cardstock was already on my desk I used that too along with the new Basic Black 3mm taffeta ribbon. The flower is made using the Boho Blossoms punch.



Of course, me being me, I couldn't leave it there and had to make this to go with it. Real Red CS, Newsprint DSP but this time I used the Real Red satin ribbon. The satin ribbons are my favourite at the moment because they tie beautifully.



As I have a craft fair coming up on Saturday (did I tell you about it?!!!!) I have made quite a few of the pencil boxes and matching notebooks. The good thing about having a notebook fetish is that if my notebooks don't sell I can use them myself!!! Hmmm, maybe I will conveniently forget to take them with me ..............

Hope to see you in Leicester!!!

Kelly

Leicester Craft Fair Saturday 9th October

On Saturday 9th October the Leicestershire Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre is hosting their annual Craft Fair. It will be at Groby Village Hall from 10am to 3.30pm. The last event was amazing with lots and lots of stalls manned by very talented craftspeople, I always spend a fortune (especially if Les Flint is there with his unusual and fabulous jewellery). It is a perfect opportunity to, a) support a very worthy cause, and, b) a chance to buy unique, handcrafted gifts. I will be there with my stall of goodies so come along and say Hi!

I have made some of these quirky baskets to take with me, I must confess though that two of them won't make it to the fair - I've kept them!!!!



Now I know that these baskets aren't made with Stampin' Up! supplies, but I think I can be forgiven as the proceeds of the fair are for charity!



I will post more of my goodies soon.

Hope to see you there!

Kelly

PS They serve the best bacon butties and cake too!!!!

Fabulous Friend

Here's another Greenhouse Gala DSP card for you. The base card is Early Espresso, and, do you spy the new Early Espresso ribbon? The greeting is from Oval All stamp set punched out with the Large Oval punch and then matted onto the new Pear Pizzazz cardstock which has been punched with the Scalloped Oval punch. I coloured the flowers on the greeting using Blender Pens and ink pads.

Easy peasy card and really cute!

All Items Stampin' Up!

Stamps: Oval All

Paper: Greenhouse Gala

Cardstock: Early Espresso, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White

Punches: Large Oval, Scallop Border, Scallop Oval

Ribbon: 3mm Taffeta in Early Espresso

Take care until next time...........

Kelly