Stamps Ahead

 This week I created the following card for the ladies at my two community groups that I lead: I used AALL&Create Budgie stamp.  The budgerigar stamp was on special and I think I have an idea why.  Look at the budgie on the right - looks in need of a feed - so I when I gave it a feed using my black marker he looked well fed!   I also used masking of the bird then applied paint 'dabbed on' and when dry a stencil with Black Soot Distress Ozide ink completes the card.  Such a happy card.  Thank you for looking. Margaret

I was recently asked to make 2 confirmation cards (which I can now show you as their confirmation has been held).  The requested colour was silver.   The recipients were 7 year old twins - a boy and a girl. I cut the die 5 times in white cardstock and 1 in silver and then joined them together.   Feedback is that they loved their cards. Thank you for looking, Margaret

From 29th May and throughout June, in Australia, is The Biggest Morning Tea - a community event to raise vital funds for to make a difference to those impacted by cancer.  This week I held two card making events with the community groups where I lead card classes.   Here are the cards that I designed  Participants could chose the Designer Series Paper (DSP) and the stamp sets they used. I was inspired by an American Stampin' Up! demonstrator "Stamp your art out with Rachel"  that I found whilst searching for cards using DSP and stamps from the New Horizons collection that I fell in love when when I first saw it.  The workshops, that I lead, were open to all and some ladies and included some had not done card-making or stamping before (I tried to get the men to make a card at one of the groups but alas they did not make one - there is always next year) so I wanted a card that was relatively easy to make and provided a WOW.   I did leave Rachel a th...

It has been a rather drab and dreary weather lately here in Australia, so why not a couple of cards to make you feel happy.  Created with one of my all time favourite Stampin Up! (SU) sets Inspired by Nature, it has a date of 2004 on the stamps.  Every year I like to get this stamp pad out and think of ways to use it.  It has two sides this is one side and the side has daisy type flowers.  This year I went with the grasses side.   I was inspired by a card I saw on Splitcoast Stampers that in turn was inspired by a card by Jayne Mercer - ironically Jayne was my SU upline when I was a demonstrator with them. The greeting on the side is also another old SU favourite. A new stamp set and dies to play with from Close to my Heart (CTMH) and the set is called In Full Bloom. CTMH created this set especially for card makers and so the greetings are smaller that the larger ones they do for scrapbooking.    I really love the set and there are more little ima...

 Here are the two cards I prepared for the local community group today A card that really displays the woodgrain paper beautifully. Minimal stamping. This card has a 'wow' - when the recipient opens the card there is a great fold.  I was inspired by a card I found on the internet. I needed to make a few changes to the measures to fit Australian measurements.      A Pop Up Card Idea with All You Need to Make an Amazing Surprise (simplysimplestamping.com) Thank you Connie for the inspiration.   This could be a birthday card, anniversary card, wedding card, etc.  The stamps are Kaszazz Silhouette Garden and FSJ Make Amazing Happen with die cut.   Thank you for looking. Margaret

A card that I have made for the ladies (sorry, no men in the class) in the community group where I lead cardmaking classes. I realised when I finished that it did include a couple of rules in Calvinball 2022. I was inspired by a card that I saw on Pinterest - unfortunately the link no longer appears so I am unable to leave some love for the designer.  I used some old patterned paper from Stampin' Up! that I had in my stash.   Why not head to this link    http://scraphappy.org/calvinball  to find out more about Calvinball. Scrapbook layouts, Mini albums, Art Journal pages, Decorated daily planner pages and more are projects that you can share. Thank you for looking, Margaret

 This past weekend I ran two classes that featured Sunflower images  Coloured with Distress Oxide Inks - Vintage Photo, Fired Brick, Fossilized Amber and Bundled Sage. A little bit of Distress Stickles Glue to make the wings sparkle.  Same colours used in the layout. Those doing the single page layout had the option of purchasing a small kit to make a mirror image double layout. Some random facts, courtesy of internet searching: Sunflowers are associated with positivity.  They are the national flower of Ukraine and people are flooding social media with photos of Sunflowers.  Who knew when I started researching a couple of weeks earlier that what we are now seeing in Ukraine came to pass. The current world record for the tallest Sunflower was set in Germany in 2014 (I checked and it still stands today apparently). It had its own scaffolding.  How tall did it grow? 30 feet, 1 inch (9.17m)! Sunflowers are native to the Americas. The sunflower was a common crop...

The newest Kaszazz collection is called "Colour your world" and here a few projects I have created with the products in the new flier.   A double layout designed by Kaszazz consultant - Cheryl Devlin.  Features photos of my niece when she was 3 and 4 (now a mother herself with a 3 year old). Close up of the journal card in pocket. Journal card opened with room for me to write up the stories. A card, inspired by one of Cheryl Devlin's however I choose to sprinkle our Metallic Pan watercolours unto the background, and paint the greeting.  I also added a pink mat.   For this one I used a die cut Silhouettes-Butterfly Wreath-White (also available in black).  The Silhouettes are available in other shapes Sunny Rainbows,  Titles, Hearts, Tags. I used the Metallic Pan watercolours to colour my wreath.  It has a real shine using Metallic Pans that is not obvious in the photo.  Love this photo of my niece's son looking up high.  Just right f...

Here is card I have made this yesterday. It is headed to a friend. Kaszazz has released a $49.95 Stamp Value Set - Cute Owls (7992) and this is the largest stamp in the set.  There is a total of 9 owl stamps, ranging from small to this largest owl.  There is also some cute greetings in the set.  I have coloured with Kaszazz Metallic Watercolour pans (7895) and the card has a delightful sheen which this photo does not do justice too. As a Kaszazz consultant we have access to cards designed by other consultants and below is a card I also made that was designed by Julie Storti, a fellow consultant. Again, I used the Metallic Watercolours and I made a few small changes to the card published by Julie - mainly colours and greetings. This card uses the 3 of the medium owls. Thank you for looking, hoot hoot, Margaret

 In September each year Kaszazz issue a new catalogue and a team training day is held to introduce the new products.  This year, however, is different - and the world-wide Covid pandemic has changed all that. Most states in Australia are in lockdown and it impossible to get together as we normally would.   Whilst official events will not be running, consultants have decided to hold a challenge (usually set by Head Office) using any of our large background stamps.  Here is what I have come up with. The background stamps I have used are French Script Background (4926Q) stamped with Archival Ink Watering Can (AID39006) and Papillon Background (6600Q) stamped with Aquamarine Archival Ink (AIP30577).  The greeting is from Word Montage - Hero (6623M).  The die is Die-Layered - Butterfly (7926). Thank you for looking.  Margaret

Lockdown in Greater Sydney continues.  Here is a card I made to send to my niece and her family to say I am thinking of them. I wanted a card that would put a smile on the face of my great-nephew when he opened the mail.  I also put in a couple of magazines for them all. The cute bear is from Kaszazz Spring Meadow Friends Un-cut set (6 stamps), the leaves are from Spring Meadow Sprigs Un-cut 6 set (3 stamps) and the background stamp is Floorboard Background   I have coloured with alcohol markers but any colouring medium would work.  I wanted a bright and happy images. My thanks also go to Janene Neale, a fellow Kaszazz consultant as I drew inspiration from cards that she created to make mine.  I have sent her an email in thanks. I am a Kaszazz consultant and if you would like to order any of the products offered by Kaszazz please visit my website  www.kaszazz.com/cart?consid=110787 Thank you for looking, Margaret

 Here is a card I created yesterday,  The stamp is a long retired Magnolia stamp.  The magnolia is not hand coloured...I stamped the image onto 2 patterned papers - one green (total stamp) and on the 'pinky' colour (just the flower).  I then fussy cut each of these and layered the flower onto the green leaves.   I made another version of this card and instead of Happy Birthday I changed to 'Thinking of you' with this card being sent to a friend doing it hard at the moment. My area is still in lockdown and will be until end of the month, after that who knows!  Take care all, stay safe. I see more creating in my near future. Margaret 

This week has been and continues to be a week spent indoors.  I have had a rotten head cold and together with this a rather long case of sinus.  Today, feeling a little better but my sides hurt from coughing and still some sinus issues.  Now, enough about me and here are the two cards I designed for my class that I lead at a local community centre. I have written previously that as a Kaszazz consultant I have access to a range of cards and projects created by other consulants.  The creator of this card design was Anne Avery and it is on page 37 of the current Kaszazz catalogue.  It uses one of my favourite papers and stamps from Serendipity collection. I was searching the web when I found many references to a technique called Eclipse.  I decided to use this technique on this card. You first die cut your die onto the background paper and then die cut several more on to, in my case, white cardstock - I cut 4 additional dies, which are then glued together and ...

Yesterday I participated in a Biggest Morning Tea (BMT) event.  BMT is a community event that raises vital funds to make a big difference for those impacted by cancer.  The event I attended was organised by one of the community groups where I lead cardmaking classes.  Here is a card I designed especially for the day. I set up a table and participants could join me and make the card for a gold coin donation.  I supplied all the materials to make the card.  Several non stampers joined me at the table to make a card.   The card background was made with Distress Oxide Inks - Wilted Violet and Squeezed Lemonade or Dusty Concord and Fossiled Amber. The two colours were wiped across a clear acrylic block, water mister applied and then put face down onto watercolour paper.  After a quick zap with the heat gun, the stamped images were applied.  Then it was applied to background mat (they had a choice of colours in yellow, purples or black) and then to...

One more post for today,  each Team Training Day (TDD) there is a challenge set by Kaszazz to use products selected by them. The challenge for this TDD was to use anything from the Game On collection.  Other products in the catalogue could be used however the Game On collection must be used. Here is my challenge entry  I designed and created 3 cards that celebrate the spirit of Australia and its people, especially those in country Australia.  The papers and greetings are from Game On collection and the 3 main stamped images are from the Flora and Fauna collection and they have been coloured with watercolour pencils. Thank you for looking, Margaret

    I recently posted photos of my recently published scrapbook layout and pocket pages.   For my two card classes that I lead at two community groups I demonstrated the background technique I used - and I have called Confetti Cling Wrap technique.  Above are some of the cards the ladies made - unfortunately I did not photograph them all! Greeting is from Kaszazz Nostalgic collections and inks are Ranger Distress Oxide inks Thank you for looking, Margaret

Tomorrow, is the last Friday of term for the class I lead at a local community group.  These are the two cards the participants will be making. This card, designed by me, uses a new stamp from Kaszazz called Gum Books from the recently released Home Sweet Home collection.  The ladies (sorry, no men are in the class) will colour in using their preferred method - I have used since retired Alcohol Ink Markers.   The east coast of New South Wales, where I live on the lower edge, had constant rain over the past weekend and week, so it seemed appropriate that I feature the gum boots on this card.   This card, again created by me, uses a paper napkin/serviette applied with craft glue.  It is not a new technique.  I loved the design on the napkin immediately and I thought 'card'.   The paper napkin, that has a repeated design in each corner, has 3 plies and 2 of the plies are removed leaving the top layer for placing on the card.    Th...

Here are the cards for the class I lead at local community group.  As I write this entry it is 'bucketing' down with rain.  The east coast of New South Wales is experiencing a wet weather experience, it is expected for several days.                                             The participants have the opportunity to change the sentiment to suit whatever occasion they want.  I found this card design on Pinterest and unfortunately a rather long search has failed for me to find it again.  I love the simplicity of this card and the movement of the rhinestones.  The blue butterfly was first coloured with markers and then die cut. Easter is nearly upon us.  Again, participants can select whatever greeting they want if they do not want an Easter card. The remainder of elements come from my stash. Thank you for looking, Margaret.

 Here, are the cards that the ladies in my Friday community group made this past Friday.  This card using Kaszazz Mediterranean papers and stamps.  One of the benefits of being a Kaszazz consultant is that you have access to cards created by other talented artists - in this case my thanks go to Kerry Collins for the inspiration for this card. The greeting inside this card.  The participants really loved this clean and simple design. Many, many years ago on one of my visits to USA I found this stamp set - Hot Air Balloon Collage by TPC Studio and it had lain in my stash for a long time unused.  Time to get it out.  I was inspired by a card Luisa Papercrafts that I found during an internet search, unfortunately I am not able to leave a thank you as it appears the link has closed, so if you are by any chance reading my blog and you are the designer thank you.   I have used Alcohol Ink Markers to colour the balloon and the sun rays.   Bling ...

Yesterday, I invited several people to come and play using Kaszazz Spring Meadow collection. I am a Kaszazz consultant so these projects use all Kaszazz products. The ladies either made a card or a single scrapbook layout. This is a longer than normal blog post so please grab a 'cuppa' and follow along with me.   Here, is what I designed for them. The challenge for me was to design two projects (one for the cardmakers and one for the scrapbookers) using the same technique.  This scrapbook layout features SB Paper - Spring Meadow, cut into a 10cm strip and SB Essentials Chestnut cut into 1" strip, scrap piece for flower/leaf outline and a photo mat for a 6" x 4" photo. SB Essentials Mushroom used for leaf. The background and flower has been created by 'smooching' together randomly Spun Sugar and Iced Spruce Distress Oxide Inks. Stamps used are Floorboard Background (on Mushroom die cut leaf) and These are they days.....and flourish stamp from Collage Stamp...