Mint Pattie Anyone? Come Along & Treat Yourself at My Open House

Just a quick reminder that my Open House is on from 7:00 - 9:30pm tonight (Friday 29 August 2008). There's still room for more people if you can make it along.

Above is one of the fun little projects we'll be making. I've used the One of A Kind stamp set and the co-ordinating Boho Blossoms Punch with Sage Green and Close to Cocoa colours to decorate mint patties. Yum!

Most of the items in the new Stampin' Up! Spring Mini Catalogue will be on display for you to view and/or try out.

There'll be more make-and-takes, a demonstration and give-aways. All for $10. Please call me on 02 9484 0117 or 0402 347 010 or email me to let me know you're coming.

Hope to see you tonight,

Love from Crafty Kim

A Father's Day Card made with Decorative Paper

Want a quick and simple way to make a Father's Day card? Use Stampin' Up!® Designer Series Paper. This card, designed by Karen Oliver during our weekend away together, uses paper from the Outlaw 12 x 12 inch Designer Series Paper. When I first saw this paper I wasn't sure about the relevance of the Western / Cowboy style for Australia. But I love the colours that co-ordinate with this paper; Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Really Rust, Sage Shadow, Creamy Caramel and Very Vanilla. And along with the three co-ordinating Boho West stamp sets, it has proven very useful for male cards and scrapbook layouts. SU! paper is a bargain too, at $1 each for double-sided sheets.

To make this card interesting, textured card stock has been used for the base card. Textured card stock is new to SU! this year, and is available in variety packs for each of the four SU! colour families. Again, when I first saw the SU! Jumbo Eyelets, I thought to myself "how am I going to use these?" But I've found them great for embellishing cards for men. And don't be thinking they are hard to set. Not with the handy Crop-A-Dile. Finished with a greeting from Occasional Greetings stamp set, this card is ready for the 7 September.

Time for a Fatherhood quote from Mark Twain, perhaps to offer hope to parents of teenagers:

"When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years."

Enjoy creating something special for the Dads in your life.

Love from Crafty Kim

The Show is Over....Thanks A Bunch

Well I had a blast at the Stitches and Craft Show at Rosehill Racecourse last week. If you're visiting my blog for the first time after meeting me at the Stampin' Up!® stand, welcome. Thank you to all of my friends who came to visit me. I trust you enjoyed looking at the displays, demonstrations and I'm glad some of you had time to make a card.

I also want to say sincere thanks to the other Stampin' Up!® demonstrators who worked on the stand with me. I really appreciate the company and support of Teneale, Marelle, Sharon, Tracey, Karen, Kirrily, Sue, Noreen, Robyn, Sam and Lorna. Teneale's Mum, Barbara, kept the make-and-take table running smoothly and made us all laugh. And my own Mum, Robyne, deserves a medal for looking after my sick son and stickering numerous catalogues and forms while I worked full-time. Ashley was off school with a nasty virus for the entire duration of the show so his care was not an easy task.


After the show closed, I was thrilled to receive this big bunch of flowers and beautiful card from Sharon and Marelle. It's been a while since I received flowers (hint hint hubby, not that he reads my craft blog). Such a lovely surprise when I was feeling a tad tired.


And here's a close up of my card, a creation from the very talented Marelle Taylor. It uses bleaching techniques to give it a coloured-in look on dark coloured card stock. Marelle has generously shared her instructions so you can read all about it.

Marelle stamped and embossed an image in black ink onto Elegant Eggplant, and bleached out sections of it, and then water-coloured the bleached areas. The image is from "Oh So Lovely". She 'painted' the flowers and stems with bleach. You can use an old paintbrush (find one with nylon bristles, as the bleach will eat away at natural bristles), but we recommend the use of an Aquapainter filled with bleach. The bleach is less smelly that way, and you are less likely to spill any on your clothes. I've got an dedicated Aquapainter for bleaching (i.e. written BLEACH on it in big letters!), but I rinse it out after use and store it empty. The image starts to bleach out before your eyes, but wait until it's completely dry before you start to water-colour it. Marelle water-coloured with an Aquapainter (without bleach in it!) and ink taken from the ink pad lids (Purely Pomegranate for the flower and Always Artichoke for the stem). She also used a cotton-bud (Q-tip) dipped into bleach and ran it around the edges of the Eggplant piece.


The background for this card has been done using the background block in the "Oh So Lovely" set. Purely Pomegranate ink was stamped onto Pale Plum cardstock; just stamped repeatedly in one direction, and then the cardstock was turned 90 degrees and stamped repeatedly in the other direction. Marelle then sponged around the edges in Pomegranate ink.

The Crop-A-Dile made easy work of the eyelet setting! Here, the shiny black eyelets echo the black embossed image, and add a touch of class. The little tag is just a small oval punch, with the edges sponged, and another eyelet set in it. Matching Elegant Eggplant grosgrain ribbon completed it ready for me to enjoy.

Now if you have any questions arising from anything you saw or heard at the Show, please don't hesitate to contact me. I'll be sharing some more cards and techniques from the Show stand but I better get back to Father's Day with another post later today. So, until then, thanks for reading.

Love from Crafty Kim

Roll Up, Roll Up....It's Show Time

Just a quick reminder that I am currently at the Sydney Stitches and Craft Show, at the Stampin' Up! stand (460, in the Pavillion). I'm having a great time. We are offering demonstrations, give-aways, and a free make-and-take, which is a choice to make either this card:

Or this card:



With your choice of various greeting stamps. We've also got show specials associated with the products used in our demonstrations and make-and-takes.

We are fortunate to have the highly talented crafter and lovely lady, Teneale Williams, teaching a class every afternoon from 2:30 to 3:30pm. Teneale is a much published artist and experienced teacher. In fact, most of her classes book out fast, so this is a great opportunity to meet and learn from her. The project is called an Amazing Maze book which can be used as a scrapbook of photos or a quote book. Here are some pictures, first is front cover:


And here is a close-up of one of the inside pages.


This class costs $20 and includes all materials and use of tools so no need to bring anything. Just book and pay at the stand and turn up to the classroom. Easy.

Anyway, must get my sleep to get me ready for another day of fun. For more information on the Show, please click here.

Hope to see you Sydney-siders at some stage over the next three days.

Love from Crafty Kim

Novelty Card for Father's Day

Father's Day is celebrated in Australia on Sunday 7 September 2008. That's not far away. So here's my first Father's Day card suggestion:



This card was inspired by Lorri Heiling. I have used Close to Cocoa card stock which has been lightly sponged with the same colour ink to give it texture and a more leather-like look. I've also used a Jumbo Eyelet set by the fantastic eyelet setting tool called the Cropodile to make the wallet clasp. Paper piercing combined with a Chocolate Chip marker pen has created the faux stitching. Very handy for the likes of me who can not sew.

Once opened, the card looks like this:



The intention is to put a store gift card e.g. from Bunnings where you see the yellow note paper. You could also insert cash or a cheque into the back section of the card. And in keeping with the definition "A Daddy is....A man who has photos in his wallet where his money used to be" I've included a photo of my son, Ashley, with his Dad, Bryan, which has been edged with photo corners made using the Photo Corners Punch from Chocolate Chip card stock.

Please email me if you would like further instructions for this card.

Well I'm feeling rather tired after day 1 of the Stitches and Craft Show at Rosehill but it was great fun. And there's four more days to get in and see us. I'll post some more information on what we're up to tomorrow evening.

Love from Crafty Kim

It's Beautiful Too

Sorry I didn't get this card onto my blog on Saturday as planned. But here it is now:


This card is made from the same It's Beautiful stamp wheel that was used to make this card. Except this time, the wheel was inked in Versamark Ink (so called because it is a clear ink that leaves a "watermark" like image on your card stock). I love my Versamark pad; it is definitely the pad I would take with me anywhere if I could choose one ink only. Here it has been teamed with Stampin' Up!® Pastels for what is called "Poppin' Pastels". You can use a number of applicators to apply colour pastels to the Versamark. These include sponges, sponge daubers, "eye-shadow" style applicators and cotton buds. For small, fine areas, you carefully dab the powder on; for larger areas you can rub the powder on it a circular motion. The end result is very pretty. You may want to prevent the pastels rubbing off by using a finishing spray such as Helmar Fixative. For more information on this technique, see yet another online tutorial from Beate Johns.

This card was designed by Lin Mei Yap and she has bordered the image panel with two vertical lines of paper piercing and added knotted Vanilla Grosgrain Ribbon. The Designer Label Punch was used to punch out the greeting and in keeping with the feature image, the edges of the label were coloured with pastels too.

As pretty as all these flowery cards are, Father's Day is fast approaching (it falls on Sunday 7 September this year). So next post will feature a male card.

Love from Crafty Kim

It's Beautiful, It's Versatile & It's Postponed

Here's another card I'm planning for guests to make at my Open House. It was inspired by a card made by Angela Parker for our crafty weekend away. I've used the It's Beautiful Jumbo Wheel from the new Stampin' Up!® Spring Mini Catalogue. Stamp wheels are versatile; they can be used as the feature or the background. They're also quick and inexpensive. Once you have the wheel handle (priced at $7.50 for the standard size or $10.95 for the jumbo), you can add any standard or jumbo wheel to your collection for $11.95 or $15.95.

This card has a monochromatic colour scheme, meaning shades of one colour only are employed. I love it in Purely Pomegranate teamed with the co-ordinating double stitched ribbon but it would work equally as well in a variety of other colours. Another feature to note is the paper piercing which follows the swirls in the stamp pattern. Here's a close-up to show you what I'm referring to:



The greeting comes from Circle of Friendship and I've used the scallop and circle punches to mount the greeting and distinguish it from the busy background. I scalloped the corners with the Slit Punch and added some Pretty in Pink Brads to each corner. To reduce the starkness of the white card stock I used my ink pad and sponge daubers to lightly sponge ink around the stamped images.

The invitation to my Open House planned for the afternoon of Saturday 16 August generated lots of interest. Thanks to those readers who replied to me. Unfortunately, many ladies just couldn't make it along on this date so I've decided to postpone the event in the hope of more people being able to attend. I apologise for the disappointment and inconvenience this change generates and thank you for your understanding. New invitations will be sent out by email to my newsletter readers this weekend and I will also publish details here early next week.

I'll be back later today to show you another use of this lovely stamp wheel.

Love from Crafty Kim

Coming Soon....Your Invitation to our Christmas Theme Craft Day

In October this year, my fellow paper-craft addict and Stampin' Up!® demonstrator, Michelle Dyson, and I will be hosting a day-long Christmas card-making and scrapbooking event in the Hornsby / Hills district of Sydney (Australia).

It's a great way to get your Christmas cards made, or to catch up on some scrapbooking. There will be plenty of space for you to spread out your supplies and stay all day. Michelle and I will be demonstrating some gorgeous Christmas projects, and we'll issue challenges to participate in. As well as prizes to be won! You will receive a goody bag of materials to make Christmas projects.


And Michelle and I will have all of our Christmas stamps and associated tools available for your use. Trust me, that's alot of stamps to choose from. And there will be plenty of cards and other items on display to inspire you.

We're just finalising the venue and timing at the moment ahead of sending out invitations. If you are not already receiving my Crafty Kim newsletters by email, please make sure you sign up for my newsletter in order to receive your invitation with all the details.



Now, about these three cards; more treasures from my crafty weekend away. They are designed by Fiona Poirier, Michelle Dyson and Alana Galagher respectively. Thank you to these ladies for allowing me to share their card designs with my blog readers.

All cards feature the funky Christmas set in the new Stampin' Up!® Spring Mini Catalogue, called Season of Joy. If you're tempted to invest in a new set of stamps for Christmas this year, this is the one to go for. It is really versatile, with a tree, a swirl, a star, a snowflake, two flowers and various greetings. And don't forget to get a jar each of Heat 'n' Stick Powder and Dazzling Diamonds, they really add Christmas sparkle to your projects, as seen in the last card. And on this same card, do you like the Purely Pomegranate Satin Ribbon? It comes in Chocolate Chip too. Both are perfect for wrapping gifts as well as for embellishing your cards and pages.

Better get back to making cards while watching the Olympics. I'm working on Father's Day items at the moment so I'm trying to complete them "on the sly". Shouldn't be too hard to escape husband Bryan's attention, he's very absorbed by the sport.

Love from Crafty Kim

Please visit me at the Stampin' Up!® Stand at the Sydney Stitches & Craft Show

The Sydney Stitches and Craft Show has a huge variety of craft works and supplies on display. I'll be at the Stampin' Up!® exhibit, so please come over and say "hello"! You can join in our Free Make-and-Take. There'll be lots of ideas on display and fantastic demonstrations happening too...Crayon Resist, Faux Tearing, Stamp Wheels, Scrapbooking and more!


When: Wed 20 - Sun 24 August 2008, 10am - 5pm daily
Where: Rosehill Racecourse, Unwin Street, Rosehill (Sydney) NSW
Entry: $15 adult, $12 conc. (aged & student), Kids (5-16 yo) $7

For all the details, please visit the Sydney Stitches & Craft Show website. Don't miss out on our special SU! offers.

Love from Crafty Kim

A Beautiful Use of the Brocade Basics Stamp Set

Thank you to Robyn who diligently responded to my challenge to identify the two other stamp sets used in the Bloomin' with Beauty card from my last post. The leaves come from Brocade Basics and the "for you" comes from Occasional Greetings. Robyn, I will post your gift out to you.

When I first saw Brocade Basics, it didn't really grab me (too "tapestry"). But then I attended the 2008 Stampin' Up!® Convention in Brisbane (yes, there is such a thing as a stamping conference and it sure beats any other business meeting I've attended in my life time) where the co-founder and CEO of Stampin' Up!®, Shelli Gardner, demonstrated a card using this set. It has been on my Wish List ever since.



The card above was made by Alana Galagher during our weekend away together for a sketch challenge from Splitcoast Stampers. Alana's card was voted as the best of all responses to the Sketch Challenge. Congratulations Alana and thank you for allowing me to share your creation with my blog readers. This card has pearls on it from the SU! Pretties Kit which adds dimension and some "class" in my humble opinion.

This is actually a tri-fold card but unfortunately I did not photograph the open card (d'oh!). But you'll get the idea from the sketch which inspired it (SC94):



You will also notice that the flower blossoms are two colours, Groovy Guava (GG) and Purely Pomegranate (PP).



This has been achieved with a technique called Rock 'n' Roll. Alana has first inked the solid stamp up in the lighter colour, GG. She then inked the edges of the same stamp with the darker ink, PP, by rolling the edges of the stamp on the PP ink pad. Unfortunately I don't have the Brocade Basics stamp to illustrate this but using another stamp (can you guess which set this one is from Robyn?), on the left is the stamp inked with the lighter ink only, and on the right is the stamp inked with both colours, the darker ink being around the edges.



You can learn more about this technique from this Rock 'n' Roll tutorial from Beate Johns.

I'll be back later today with some dates for your diary so please stay tuned.

Love from Crafty Kim

Want to learn how to watercolour like this?

I made this card last weekend on my crafty retreat. The starting point was a sketch or layout challenge from Splitcoast Stampers:

For those unfamiliar with a Sketch Challenge, it is a suggested layout for paper-crafters to follow. In my card, the main flower image on the watercolour paper is part 4; the Rose Red Prints Designer Series Paper is part 2 and the Regal Rose Wide Grosgrain Ribbon is part 3 while the base Pretty in Pink cardstock stamped with leaves and the "for you" greeting is part 1.

The stamp set, Bloomin' with Beauty, is from the new Stampin' Up!® Spring Mini Catalogue and for fans of watercolouring, it is perfect. Not confident of your watercolouring skills? Well consult Cambria Turnbow's tutorial Watercolouring for Cheaters. Still not convinced? Consider coming to one of my watercolouring classes (details to follow soon or please email me).

I'm often asked by customers what the larger holes in the Mat Pack template are for? The Mat Pack is famous for its use with a piercing tool and soft foam cushion to embellish a card with a row of pierced holes or faux stitches.



So what are those two sets of larger holes for? Have you tried to set 2 or more eyelets or brads in a straight row and failed? It sounds simple but if the eyelet or brad is out by a mm or 2mm, your eye can see it. So in the card above, I used my Mat Pack to ensure the three Pretty in Pink brads are in a neat vertical row.

Now for a quick bit of fun...the first person to leave a comment with the name of the other stamp sets used in this card wins a surprise gift. Please note this competition is open only to Australian residents and excludes Stampin' Up! demonstrators.

Love from Crafty Kim

Treat Yourself to A Wonderful Afternoon at My Open House

This Popsicle card is one of the projects we'll be making at my open house (in Westleigh, NW Sydney suburb, NSW, Australia) on Saturday 16 August. I've used the Tart and Tangy stamp set (on loan to me from my downline Lesley Annabel - thanks Lesley) from the new Mini Catalogue to make these. The Scallop Circle punch made the bite marks and I added some Striped Grosgrain ribbon to decorate.



Colours are Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Summer Sun and Wild Wasabi. Hopefully you can see the frosty edge in the (first) picture, this was achieved by sponging the cardboard edges with Whisper White ink using sponge daubers. To see how we'll be doing it, have a look at this tutorial from Patty Bennett.

I'd love it if you can come along, from 12:30 - 3:30pm. I'll be show-casing products from the new Stampin' Up! Mini Catalogue. There will be a demonstration of how to make a Scratch-And-Sniff version of the above Popsicle card, more make-and-takes to complete and prizes to win. You'll also receive a printed copy of the new Mini. Chocolate and other sustenance will be in plentiful supply.

There will be an entry charge of $10 each to cover costs. This is fully redeemable if you place an order for $50 or more on the day.

Please RSVP by Friday 15 August by email or phone 0402 347 010. I will give you further details when you reply to me.

I really hope you can make it along. If you bring a new friend, your entry price will be reduced to $5 so please ask others along too.

Love from Crafty Kim

A Birthday Card for a Priceless Friend

I'm back from my weekend away crafting which was terrific. I will share more details of the time away soon but before I left, I made a birthday card for a friend using the Priceless stamp set. I've had this set for a while now but had not played with it much. I decided to use a colour challenge as the starting point for this card. So I visited the website of the Queen of Colour Challenges, Kristina Werner. Here's one of her recent colour challenges (Rose Red, Regal Rose, Sage Shadow and Whisper White):


I decided to add Close to Cocoa and Chocolate Chip colours as well for greetings and accents. Just a few card-making tips for this one; to make the scalloped corners, I have used the Stampin' Up!® Slit Punch, turned upside down so I can view and decide how big I want the scallop to be.


I didn't have any colour-matching brads, so I made "faux brads" which involves punching a small circle out in the desired card stock colour and sticking them in place with the SU! 2-Way Glue Pen. Once positioned, I carefully dollop a small amount of SU! Crystal Effects on each cardboard dot. Then, and this is very important, I put the card out of the way to let the Crystal Effects dry. This takes about 45 minutes. The Crystal Effects looks cloudy at first but as it dries, it becomes shiny.



The butterflies have been stamped on a separate sheet. They are solid stamps which require lots of tapping on a moist ink pad plus a little twisting (but finish with tapping) prior to stamping with a firm pressure onto smooth Whisper White card stock. The butterflies were cut out before being stuck down with Stampin' Dimensionals. This, along with the ribbon and faux brads, gives the card an extra dimension rather than being flat.

Lastly, in the words of Shelli Gardner, the co-founder and CEO of Stampin' Up!®, "never a naked envelope". I really like co-ordinating cards with envelopes and gift wrapping.

Love from Crafty Kim