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Watercolouring

September 29, 2010

I am posting these projects from the Brisbane Regionals because my friend Gwen keeps asking me where they are. 

The stampset we received with our registration was Every Moment and those of you who know me, know that this would not be my first choice because I am not drawn to colouring in.  However, I was challenged by Gwen and my downline Jenny to complete the projects.   The images were all coloured using the aqua painter and ink pooled on the lid of the ink pads.  All the images were stamped onto SU’s watercolour paper using Black Stazon Ink.  Tips were shared with us on how to go about our watercolouring and I have to say that while I probably wouldn’t say it is a favourite technique, I am glad that I perservered and finished the projects.  The Fancy Favour Box was my first project which I did whilst at Regionals and it is probably not the best watercolouring job, however, I am really pleased with the card and the little notecard.  We also used our spritzer, a tool which I fail to use often enough, even though I love the way it adds so much texture to a project.  So for those of you who never venture out of your comfort zone to try watercolouring, may I suggest that you do, as the end results can be very satisfying.

Bye for now, Kris.

Just Add….

September 28, 2010

Shimmer Mist.  When I saw what my friend and downline Shirley(you must check out her owls)  had done with the Just Add Ink Challenge 36, I thought I had better take a look at the sketch.  My interpretation of the sketch is very literal but I knew immediately that I wanted to try a technique that we are learned at the Brisbane Regionals using Shimmer Mist and re-inkers.

I have used the new technique on my butterflies.  I mixed some Champagne Shimmer Mist and some Pretty in Pink reinker in an old  brad container that I had.  Then I used a sponge dauber to apply the ink to the All a Flutter butterfly.  Not too thickly or it will go into the crevices and not leave a nice impression.  Then I stamped onto Whisper White card and cut them out.  You probably cannot see it but they are all shimmery and just gorgeous in real life. I punched one edge of Wild Wasabi cardstock using the new Scallop Trim Border punch.  I layered a piece of Chocolate Chip card which I had run through the Big Shot using the Elegant Lines embossing folder on top.  I tied a length of Pretty in Pink 1/4″ grosgrain ribbon around these two pieces of card.  Then I layered the Wild Wasabi/Chocolate Chip piece onto the left hand side of  Whisper  White card.  I added the butterflies using dimensionals under the wings and SNAIL in the centre of the butterfly.  This makes the wings “lift” a little.  The greeting is from Three Little Words and I stamped this using my stamp-a-ma-jig and Chocolate Chip ink.  Lastly I added 3 of the new Basic Pearls into the circles created in the Chocolate Chip card by the Elegant Lines Embossing folder.

What do you think?  I love it. 

Bye for now, Kris.

A Hostess Gift

September 27, 2010

Yesterday I held a workshop for a great customer and friend of mine (Hi Michelle).  I thought I would share with you the Hostess gift which I made for her.  The tutorial for this Love Notes Presentation Box was shared by Amanda  at one of Steph’s downline meetings.  Thanks Amanda for a great tutorial.

I’m not going to share the instructions with you but I will tell you that I used Sahara Sand to make the bottom of the box and also the divider.  I used a medium window sheet to make the lid of the box and tied it with Whisper White 1cm Taffeta Ribbon.

I will share with you how I made the little 3 x 3 notecards to go inside.

I used Whisper White cardstock  cut 6″ x 3″, scored and folded to make the 3″ x 3″ card (I actually used 12″ x 12″ sheets as it is more economical to cut).  The Christmas notecards (or tags) were stamped using 6 different “reds” from the core colour groups and I matched the ink to the 2 3/4″ x 2 3/4″ layer of card, e.g. Real Red ink with Real Red cardstock.  The 2 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ Whisper White squares were stamped and then run through the Big Shot using the Petals a Plenty Embossing Folder and then attached to the card fronts.  The image is from the Christmas Classics stampset – one of my favourite Christmas stampsets. 

The For You gift cards (or tags) were made in the same way using Whisper White and then I used Early Expresso for the next layer.  Then I stamped the For You Flower using  Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Daffodil Delight, Soft Suede and Marina Mist ink.  They were then punched out using the Fancy Flower Extra Large Punch and attached to the front of the cards.

I love the way this set turned out and I am very grateful to Amanda for sharing her versatile box with us.

Bye for now, Kris.

My Third Swap

September 26, 2010

I finally found my third swap card and had time to photograph it.

This card uses Whisper White and Rich Razzleberry cardstock.  I am finding it very hard to not use Rich Razzleberry, at the moment it is my favourite colour, especially in this combination.    The Rich Razzleberry cardstock has been run through the Big Shot using the Vintage  Wallpaper Embossing Folder and layered onto Whisper White card which has been through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder.  I wrapped this with Old Olive 5/8″ grosgrain ribbon and made the bow using a large Clear Rhinestone Brad and a small piece of Old Olive 5/8″ grosgrain ribbon.   I attached the bow  to the wrapped  ribbon using Mini Glue Dots.  I stamped the image from Friends Never Fade onto Whisper White card using Rich Razzleberry ink and cut one of them out.  The other two were matted with Rich Razzleberry and Whisper White before being attached to the bottom right of the card.  The image which I cut out is attached on the top right hand corner using dimensionals.

I love this card, it turned out so elegant.

Well that’s the end of my swap cards, now all I need to do is photograph some of the fabulous cards and 3D items which I received from the other attendees at the Brisbane Regionals.

Bye for now,  Kris.

Colour Your World

September 25, 2010

Today I held a workshop where the ladies made a great colour inventory booklet.   The original instructions for this booklet were posted by Kathy Alt. 

We used Whisper White as the base of our booklet and added Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive to the mix.  The image panel was created by stamping the large flower and two small flowers from Vintage Vogue onto Whisper White cardstock using Rich Razzleberry ink.  The flowers were masked and overstamped with the vine image from Vintage Vogue using Old Olive ink.  The edges were sponged with Old Olive ink as well.  This piece was matted onto Old Olive cardstock and then Rich Razzleberry cardstock with one edge punched using the Eyelet Edge punch.  “My Colour Combos” was formatted  on the computer, printed out on Whisper White card  and punched out with the Wide Oval Punch.  The edges were sponged with Rich Razzleberry ink.  The mat was created by running Old Olive cardstock through the Big Shot with one of the dies from Lots of Tags.  Lastly we stamped one of the large flowers from Vintage Vogue onto a scrap of Whisper White cardstock and cut it out.  A 1/2″ Rich Razzleberry circle was added to the centre and this was added to the front of the booklet using dimensionals.  The long floral image was stamped onto Old Olive cardstock and the edges sponged with the same ink.  This was added to the right hand panel of the booklet.  One edge of a piece of Rich Razzelberry cardstock was punched using the Eyelet Edge punch and added under the Whisper White card on the right hand closure.  A velcro dot was added underneath the right hand side to close the book.

Inside the booklet is a page for each of the four Core Colour families and also the 2010 Incolour family.  There is space to record purchases of cardstock, ink pads, re-inkers and markers.  These pages were provided by Kathy as a download but I have reformatted them so that they are slightly larger.

I also formatted some additional pages so that stamp set and Big Shot purchases could  be recorded.  So the ladies who attended today will no longer have to ask me “Have I got that stampset?”, “Did I order that embossing folder?”. 

And just to make sure there is no confusion when they bring their books to classes and workshops the front page identifies the owner of the booklet. 

To go along with this little inventory booklet we also created a book to record our own favourite colour combinations.

For the covers of this book we used the Very Vintage Wheel using  Old Olive ink and then sponged the edges with the same ink.  The Old Olive panel has also been rolled with the Very Vintage Wheel using Old Olive ink and again the edges were sponged with the same ink.  The Rich Razzleberry cardstock has been punched down one side with the Eyelet Edge Punch.  The focal image panel has been created in the same way as the image panel on the Inventory Booklet.  After the booklet was bound alphabetical tabs were added.

Inside the book colour combinations can be recorded to be reused over and over again.  Not only can you record the combination under “O” for Old Olive but it can also be recorded under “R” for Rich Razzleberry and  “P” for Pacific Point.  I like to record my favourite colour combinations this way because often I will decide that I want to use a particular colour and can look it up to see what other colour combinations I have previously used.

Due to popular demand this class is being held again on Wednesday 6th October at 10am.  If you would like to join me for this class please email me (k.mcintosh1@optusnet.com.au ) to reserve your place.

Bye for now,  Kris.

Another Swap Card

September 23, 2010

I meant to get back and show you this card much sooner but life has been hectic.

I really like the colours in this card and must admit I have used them a lot lately.  I ran the piece of Basic Black cardstock through the Big Shot using the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder and layered it onto a piece of Crumb Cake card which I had stamped with the large filigree diamond from the Friends 24-7 stampset using versamark ink.  The Very Vanilla 5/8″ grosgain ribbon was tied around this piece.  I then punched out an Fancy Flower from Very Vanilla card.  I layered this with 5 3/4″ circles punched from Real Red card.  I stamped the For You Flower onto Very Vanilla card using Real Red ink and punched out the centre using the 1 3/8″ circle punch and attached it to the flower over the 3/4″ circles using dimensionals.  The whole flower was then attached to the front of the card again using dimensionals.  I am really loving this single stamp. 

I was going to show you my other swap but I couldn’t find it to take a photo.

I will be back to show you some of the swaps that I received back.

Bye for now, Kris.

One of Three

September 19, 2010

Well yesterday I attended my first ever Stampin’ Up! event, the Brisbane Regional Training.  What a day!!! I was lucky enough to travel in with my friends and fellow Demonstrators, Gwen and Jenny (my downline).  We met up with fellow demonstrator Shirley(also my downline)  and her sister-in-law Lorena.  We had a fabulous time and learned so much and it made me want  to attend more of these events.  The presenters shared some great tips and ideas and you will probably hear more about them in due course.

 This is the first swap card I made and  was inspired by the 3 x 3″ cards I made to go with the Black and White Purse.   I used Whisper White card as my base and stamped En Francais in Rich Razzleberry ink to match the flower.  I sponged the edges with the same ink.  I ran a piece of Rich Razzleberry card through the Big Shot with the Finial Press Embossing Folder.  I punched one edge of a trip of Old Olive card with the Scallop Trim Border punch and then attached it behind the lower edge of the Rich Razzleberry card. I made the focal piece by layering Whisper White card which I had run through the Big Shot using the Finial Press Embossing Folder onto Old Olive card.  The leaves were cut in the Big Shot using the Little Leaves Sizzlit and the flower using the Simple Flower embosslit (this one cuts and embosses at the same time).  The focal piece was attached to the card using dimensionals.  I made this one also using Tangerine Tango and Melon Mambo instead of the Rich Razzleberry.

I have two more swaps to show you but I haven’t taken photos of them yet.  As soon as I do I will pop on and share them with you.

I’d love to know what you think of this one.

Bye for now, Kris.

Gifts for Regionals

September 18, 2010

I thought I would pop on and show you the gifts I made for my downline who are attending the Reginals in Brisbane with me tomorrow.

I found these little notebooks with hardcovers which I thought would be the right size for taking notes at Regionals and recovered them using the Greenhouse Gala Designer Series Paper.  I recovered 4 of these and one for myself using the different prints in this Designer Series.   Each one has the recipients initial on the front.  I also added Designer Paper to the pens so that they would match the books.   Of course no gift would be complete without chocolate, so I used the medium cellophane bags that Stampin’ Up! sells filled them with chocolates and made toppers using the Big Shot,  Top Note Die, Designer Series Paper and co-ordinating cardstock.  The greeting is from Great Friends and I also used the flower from Friends Never Fade.  I cut the Chocolate Chip cardstock using the Lots of Tags Die and punched the greeting out using the Wide Oval Punch.

I am happy with the way these have turned out and hope that the girls like them.

Bye for now, Kris.

Not quite right

September 17, 2010

Well as you already know I have been busy working on swaps for the Regionals in Brisbane on Saturday.  This card I am sharing with you today is one that just didn’t make the grade.

I wanted to make a card to swap using Tree Trimmings and because all my new colours hadn’t arrived, I used Always Artichoke, Ridinghood Red and Whisper White card.  The base card is stamped using the large swirly image from Baroque Motifs using Always Artichoke ink and then I sponged the edges with the same ink.  I stamped the christmas bauble using Ridinghood Red ink onto Whisper White card.  I used my stamp-a-ma-jig to place the three images correctly, then I used my Ridinghood Red marker and drew in the “strings”.  I sponged the edges of the Whisper White card using Ridinghood Red ink.  To hide the top of the strings I punched a small piece of Always Artichoke card using the new Scallop Trim Border punch and attached this to the top of the Whisper White card.  I added a layer of Ridinghood Red card and lastly stamped “Merry Christmas” from Occasional Greetings in the bottom right hand corner using my stamp-a-ma-jig for perfect placement and Always Artichoke ink.   I actually re-inked and stamped the words twice without removing the stamp-a-ma-jig  to make the colour stand out more.

Let me know what you think.

Bye for now, Kris.

A Simple Card

September 16, 2010

I thought the last challenge I did was hard just using one layer, well this week’s challenge at Late Night Stampers was to have NO layers.  I saw lots of beautiful cards being uploaded to the challenge folder so decided to have a go.

Ok so this is what I decided on.  I used Whisper White card and ran the front of it through my crimper to give a little texture to the bottom of the card.  Then I decided to use two of the new in-colours for the very first time.  So I stamped the stem image from Cottage Garden using Pear Pizzazz, then I stamped the solid flower using Poppy Parade which I had stamped off twice.  I overstamped the flower with the outline using Poppy Parade without stamping off.  The small flowers and the saying were also stamped with Poppy Parade.  This is a very simple card but I think I like it.  Lot’s of white is not too hard to look at and the crimping adds just a little texture.

Let me know what you think.

Bye for now,  Kris.