CARD & CAKE FOR CAROL

This card and gift have been made for one of my work colleagues, Carol. I adapted the tealight holder to have a secret compartment to hold some chocolate, although if you wanted to keep it calorie free you could add a pair of earrings etc. I enclosed the tealight and made a hole for the switch, to keep it all nice and neat.

For the card I got out my Nestabilities (Ovals & Scalloped Ovals) and one of my Cuttlebug embossing folders for the panel. I punched out the 5 Petal Flower 3 times and ran them through my paper crimper several times to distress them, then added a few leaves punched from the 2-Step Bird Punch.A birthday greeting and a little ribbon finishes it off.

I hope she likes it, have a lovely birthday (and few days off) Carol!

Take Care,
Kathy. x

Bliss Vase and Card

 I took inspiration from the Stampin' Up! catalogue for this set. For those of you who don't own a copy, you'll find loads of ideas for cards, gifts and home decor in it. It's well worth the money as it has far more project ideas than many magazines for the same price.

Anyway, I loved the vases covered with Elegant Soiree DSP, so decided make my own. Unfortunately I've not been able to find tubular vases (except really expensive ones), but saw some cheap glass tumblers from Asda (£3 for 6). As usual I had to make it difficult for myself as they are tapered, but I had a little think about it and came up with my own hand drawn template.

For those of you who would like to have a go I have finally got a template for the cover on my template page. Please let me know if you can't open it as I'm a total dunce when it comes to techno stuff.

I cut out a template and stamped it all over with the Bliss SAB flourish in Crumb Cake, sponge daubed the top and bottom edges and adhered it to the tumbler with sticky strip. I then stamped and cut out some flowers and the butterfly, added pearl details and stuck them to the tumbler.

The card was made after using the same stamp set and I used some Kraft Tafetta ribbon (sadly retired) for texture. I could have made my own Crumb Cake ribbon with ink, but I had a little left so used that.

I've made this set for my Mum, she had her knee replaced yesterday, and the hospital is a little funny about flowers so she'll have a nice bunch when she gets home next week. At least she won't have to worry about leaving the vase behind, and flowers usually last more than a week, so she can enjoy them for longer.

Take care everyone,
Kathy. x

SWEET SUMMER WORKSHOP

I said how much I'd enjoyed making the sweet summer squares card, and wanted to do a workshop with a version of it, so I did!

The first picture shows what we made, although we only got to make one of the tealight birthday cakes as we were running out of time.

The colour scheme was Baja Breeze, Pretty in Pink and Chocolate Chip, with a little Whisper White. Jayne said how these colours would make lovely baby cards and I have to agree. It's a good job I have plenty of those colours as I'm going to be an Aunty again in August and my Stampin' Up! mummy, Abi, is expecting too. I'm planning to do a baby brag book for my Sister-in-Law, but I'll be using yellow as the colour as it's neutral (she doesn't know if it's a boy or a girl) and it's her favourite colour. Not sure what I'll be making for Abi, but as she reads my blog I'm afraid I won't reveal it until after she gets it.

I was asked to show how to make the calorie-free cakes by one of my ladies who saw them on some of the blogs I have links to. Those talented ladies were shown how to make them at convention, but as I hadn't been able to go I had to work out how they were made from their pictures. I hope I got it right!

Anyway, we all had a great evening, although we missed you Heather! Hope you are feeling better now.

Take care,
Kathy.

Thank you!

Happy Valentines day everyone!!

This is just a quick note to say thank you to all my ladies who came to my Bliss workshop. I had a fabulous time with you all and you made such gorgeous items. 

They were all unique, you just took inspiration from me, and they were all so lovely. To be honest, they were so good I'm going to have to case some of them!!

Next Thursday  (the 17th) is my Sweet Summer workshop and I'll have some photos to show you of what we're going to be making very soon. I just have to get the photos done.

See you on Thursday, take care,

Kathy. x

Sweet Summer Squares

This card was made for one of my husband's work colleagues, who has a birthday coming up. The centre square opens up (I used the Petal Card punch) to reveal "Eat Cake" from the Cute by the Inch Hostess Level 2 set. Sorry I forgot to take another picture to show it opened.

I love this Sweet Summer stamp set, it's so very different from Bliss, but that's the great thing about Stampin' Up, they provide us crafters with many styles as we all have our own favourites.

I had so much fun using this set I think I'll be having a class, I'll adapt this card ('cos it took ages to make) and add a couple of other projects, I'll let you know what I come up with.

For those of you who want to know the colour combination for this project, it was Baja Breeze, Pink Pirouette & Early Esspresso.

Thanks for looking,
Kathy. x

Bliss Workshop

For those of you who can't wait until tomorrow's workshop, here's a sneaky peek at the projects we'll be making.

We'll be using the fabulous Sale-A-Bration stamp set called Bliss which has some truly gorgeous stamps, not least is the flourish. I just can't get enough of this type of image as they are useful for so many projects.

The two cards are very similar, I just swapped the colours round (they're Marina Mist, Crumb Cake and Chocolate Chip). I kept them simple, with a little distressing with the Cutter Kit and the Colour Spritzer Tool.

The third item we're making is a photo frame. I've die cut the base from chipboard with my trusty Big Shot and then another from Crumb Cake cardstock.The Crumb Cake layer is stamped with the flourish and a little Multipurpose glue adheres the card to the chipboard. The frame is decorated with some flowers and the butterfly, and I then glazed the front with some Crystal Effects to make it more durable.

I hope everyone enjoys making these, I know I did!

Take care,
Kathy. x

Valentine Workshop

Here are the pojects my ladies and I made during our Valentines workshop. I kept them nice and simple as we've all been married too long for mushy stuff!!

The first card was made using the cute owl from Sale-A-Bration set Punch Bunch, it was cased from the American Sale-A-Bration catalogue as I thought it was so cute. The stamp set is only available 'til the end of the month when you place an order over £45, so let me know if the owl (and the other images) have taken your fancy! Have you noticed the girl owl has a tiny ribbon bow on her ear? I made it using the thin Tafetta ribbon in Daffodil Delight, remarkably easy to make if you first make it big, then ease the ends and tighten the bow to make it smaller.

The second card uses another stamp from Punch Bunch as the focal point and greeting, I used Dot, Dot, Dot for the spotty panel. The stitched ribbon (which was free during December's promotion) added some texture, together with the large button.

Finally, we made a heart shaped pouch to hold 3 heart shaped chocolates, we all had a try of one or two (just to make sure they were suitable) and they were delicious!!

Thanks ladies for another lovely evening of crafty company,
Kathy.x

I've been having a play!

Hi Everyone!

I've been having a little play with the blogger template designer, which is why my blog has suddenly gone all spotty!!
Not sure if I like it, I'll give it a day or two & see, so be prepared for all sorts of patterns appearing for a while!

I do have some projects to show you, just got to find the camera!

Take care,
Kathy. x

Update, I logged in this morning and hated the spots, they made my eyes go funny! :(

 I also changed the colour as there was too much purple "Gasp, horror, how could I of all people say such a thing!" I hear you say.
Anyway, hope you like this style/colour better, though I could change my mind again....

Take care,

Kathy. x

P.S. I've also made a new tab that lists my 2011 workshops & availability, as you can see they're filling up fast. so contact me asap if you're interested.