Game Console Boy

During the very cold and wet winter school holidays, my son entertained himself with his game console. Fortunately, he also enjoyed playing tennis, basketball, AFL and other sports at various school holiday camps. But the game consoles are very popular with boys of his age.

So when Ashley was invited to a school friend's birthday celebration (which was a trip to the Power House Museum, very cool), my mind turned to the stamp shown above. In the gaming theme, I added the sentiment "It's your turn...." and inside:


Happy birthday to a special 9 year old. Time sure flies, I can hardly believe that 9 and 10 year old birthday parties are on the agenda.

Thanks for looking.

Love from Crafty Kim

Simple Felt Card

Yes, the SALE is still on but it was getting a bit boring having it at the top of my blog so I'm back to regular posting. Just click HERE to see my sale items.

A couple of years back, I bought some strips of decorative felt without much thought as to how I would use them. They do look good on a scrap page but I wasn't sure what to do with them on a card. Hence they've been hanging out on my embellishment carousel ever since.

But I finally opened the pack and stuck them on a card. I'm big on Kraft-coloured card at the moment and I like the single layer aspect of this card. A bit of bling, a greeting and it was finished. Which is great for me as I tend to overthink most cards, taking way too long and getting overwhelmed with options. My only doubt about this card was the ribbon, to be or not to be?

Thanks for looking,

Love from Crafty Kim

STAMP CLEARANCE SALE CONTINUES

Keeping this post at the top, please scroll down for other entries

*I've added more pictures of sets for sale*

Well I've been threatening it for a while now....I'm clearing out my stash and selling items that I'm unlikely to use before I die. It's all great stuff but with me having less crafting time than ever, I want the items to go to a good home where they'll be loved and exercised regularly.

If you click on the name of the set, you'll be taken to the Split Coast Stampers gallery for a photo of the images and many ideas for using the set. Many of the stamps will suit scrapbookers as well, so please spread the word so I can re-home these babies.

I'll be donating half of the total proceeds of sale to animal charities such as:


Stamps are available for local pickup (Hornsby area of Sydney, post code 2120) or I will post them by Australia Post, most likely in a 500g ($6) or 3kg ($10) red satchel (depending on your post code and weight of parcel).


Especially Suitable for Scrapbookers

Big Deal Alphabet set of 24 brand new wood (mounted) $25

Expressive Flexible Phrases set of 56 brand new wood (unmounted) $25


Nature / Flowers

Infinite Goodness set of 6 brand new wood (mounted) $15

Backgrounds, Frames & Other Useful Stamps

All in a Row set of 4 brand new wood (mounted) $12


Christmas & Other Occasions

Card made with All Through the Year
(Creation & Photo with thanks to Jennie)

All Through the Year set of 8; 7 brand new & 1 used in very good condition wood (mounted) $15

Card Card made with Stipple Celebrations

(Creation & Photo with thanks to Melanie Hawks)

Stipple Celebrations set of 14 used wood (excellent condition) $20

Greetings Galore set of 8 used wood (good condition) $15

Card made with Treat Yourself

Treat Yourself set of 13 used wood (good condition) $20

To buy or make a near offer, please email me or leave a comment. First in, first served. I will accept PayPal, bank deposit, cheque or cash. Credit card possible for combined purchases of more than $30. Once an item is sold, I will remove it from this web site. Unsold items are headed to eBay after this.

Thanks for looking and considering.

Love from Crafty Kim

Happy Birthday Marie

Back in May I had the opportunity to go to "colouring-in school" for a day. Very indulgent. Apart from learning some useful marker techniques, I also got to stamp some images for practicing my colouring-in later. The above card is made with the first colouring-in job I was satisfied with (a few went into the bin).

I used a card sketch for the lay-out and used some co-ordinating paper (the background paper was cut with my Circle Scissor) plus felt flowers and pretty rhinestone brads to come up with a birthday card for my friend Marie. The image probably suits a little girl best but lucky Marie shares my current passion for this style of stamp so she was happy to receive it. The greeting is from a new sentiment set I got recently - I love all the swirls in the tops and tails of the letters.

Thanks for visiting.

Love from Crafty Kim.

Clear Acetate Cards

The electricity supply for Sydney's north west has been out since the wee hours of this morning until now. How reliant we are on it for warmth and food supply. My son and I had a game of chess while keeping warm with blankets and eating Madeira cake for breakfast. We didn't have to rush out of the house as Ashley's swimming lesson was cancelled, again due to lack of power.

Back to the cards. Last month I challenged myself to use acetate in cards and teach a class. Above is one resulting card. There are so many techniques using acetate that I had trouble narrowing it down to three in the end.

Can you see I've used that old dinosaur, mulberry paper, in the card above? It's been so long since I got it out of my paper file. But it has lovely whispy edges. And do you like the glittery flower? I laser-printed a digital stamp from my PC onto one side of the acetate and then applied glitter to the reverse. I glued the image glitter-side-down to the backing card, containing the glitter meaning it won't fall off in its travels over time. As you can see from above, acetate embosses well in the Big Shot or Cuttlebug. It is hard to cut though, you need nice sharp dies and plenty of pressure. But here's the result:

Each petal has been cut from yellow card and then another layer of embossed acetate has been placed over the top.

Lastly, we stamped on acetate. Can be a little tricky as acetate is slippery but I find Staz-On good because it is a sticky ink and it also stays-on (most dye inks will not dry and therefore smear). Solid/silhouette style stamps work well. I've used a very old daisy stamp that I still love many years after first seeing it.


To add some texture and dimension, I layered the acetate over embossed card which had been sponged lightly. Acetate is like vellum, you can't apply adhesive without seeing through it so you need to fix it down with brads or eyelets. I've used my new "dog bone" punch for the sentiment piece.

Thanks for looking, have a good day.

Love from Crafty Kim

Happy Birthday Carolyne

Continuing on with the clean-and-simple theme, here's a card I fashioned from not much more than decorative paper for the occasion of my friend Carolyne's birthday.

Paper goes a long way. Just add card and ribbon in co-ordinating colours plus sentiment. I added some paper piercing for interest and layered my sentiment on some punchies. Done :)

If you want to make a co-ordinating envelope (which, sadly, I didn't in my rush to get the card in the mail), you can use the paper to line the envelope. It's a nice touch.

Anyway, Carolyne, if you're reading this, hope you have received my card and are enjoying some time with your famous comedian son during his visit from overseas.

And, speaking of overseas, Happy 4th of July long weekend to my online friends in the USA.

Thanks for visiting.

Love from Crafty Kim